Internet of Useful Objects

I think I can speak for everyone this time around. If you had not heard of the internet of things before, Ted's week 13 lecture really did open some eyes.

At first I had no idea what the concept was all about. During the beginning of the lecture, Ted mentioned "everything connected" and "even inanimate objects", but I couldn't see the practicality of these implementations. Seriously, who would need to connect their t-shirt to the web?

As the lecture went on, it became more evident. Objects can have a voice too. If you think about one main thing: condition. Condition is what objects can report about themselves. It's what we need to know about the things we own, yet sometimes it is hard to keep track of everything. We can't instantaneously know how dirty our clothes are, how fragile our dishes are, how worn our cars become.

Or can we? The internet of things promotes the idea that inanimate objects can report their condition. Not only condition, but location too. I would personally love it if my keys were connected to the internet. That way, a simple GPS request would allow me to triangulate their exact whereabouts. Or I could ask them to reveal themselves on my own home social network. Sneaky keys can't be sneaky any more.

Of course, the dystopian view sees the internet of things as a threat. And you know what? I agree, to some extent. I do believe that hackers can train themselves to control our connected belongings. I think Minority Report depicts a unique and eye-opening scenario if the concept became out of hand.

I also think, however, that if there is some way to hack-proof our devices, the internet of things will boom. On paper, it's completely legit. The efficient capabilities that can be brought to farm owners, motorists and practically anyone who requires a degree of maintenance in their belongings is astounding. Although our knowledge of tech ethics is quite high nowadays, and a complete dystopia is unlikely, the concerns are also legit, and I think something as big as this needs careful (and extensive) review before a rollout (and possible evolution) happens.