Imagine if your kitchen scales could advise you about
nutrition or if your lavatory could tell you to see a doctor. The Internet of
Things is making these ideas possible, but at what price?
The Internet of Things may be one of the clumsier neologisms
to have emerged in recent times, but that has seemingly done nothing to slow
its growth. For those unfamiliar with it, the Internet of Things (also known as
M2M or machine to machine) refers to an expanding network of interconnected
internet-enabled devices. Driven by miniaturisation, the affordability of
components such as cheap Bluetooth sensors, and the growing ubiquity of
technologies such as Wi-Fi, it is now possible to connect devices in a way that
would never have previously been thought possible. While still in its
"early adopter" infancy, some estimates suggest that by 2020 there
will be in the region of 50bn IoT devices – all talking with one another on a
constant basis.