Internet of Things Slowed by Industry Roadblock
Your TV knows who's sitting in front of it. Your light bulbs know when someone's in the room. Your sleep monitor knows when you're dreaming. The "Internet of Things" is invading our homes, but these connected devices face a big challenge: They all speak different digital languages. And chances are it's going to be a while before your "smart" fridge can send cooking instructions to the blender.
The sheer number of connected devices along these lines that debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month may give you the impression the Internet of Things has arrived in force, but don't be fooled.
"Around the time of CES every year people get so excited," says Tom Davenport, professor of IT and Management at Babson College and fellow at the MIT Center for Digital Business. "But people have been announcing Internet-connected refrigerators for a while now rapid progress is not happening."
Big tech companies like Google and Apple are starting to focus on products for the connected home, joining established players in the appliance and infrastructure world like Cisco and GE but each seems to be bringing its own ideas as to what a smart appliance should look like. And because the technology is still fairly unestablished, every company is looking out for number one.
"Companies may not care as much about over-arching standards so long as the application will meet the needs they have today," Andy Peebler, managing director of ecommerce and digital marketing firm Acquity Group, said in an email to NBC News.
The companies may all agree, for instance, that security cameras at the front door should be connected to a house's WiFi, and a homeowner should be able to access that video feed from all his or her portable devices. But then what? Will the video files be stored somewhere, and if so, on whose cloud account? How will multiple residents log in? Will the video feed be viewable on an iPhone?
The debate isn't quite as laden with techno-drama as, say, the Blu-ray versus HD-DVD conflict, but fundamental disagreements are inevitable. Samsung's CEO, BK Yoon, lamented at CES that the Internet of Things was doomed if standards aren't reached through collaboration. Jeremy Rifkin, author and expert in what's been called the emerging smart ecosystem, joined him on stage to emphasize this, and explained further in an interview with NBC News.
"If you want a system to work, it has to be completely distributed open, transparent, so that anyone can have access," he said.
But he warned that, despite joining industry-wide groups and coalitions, companies aren't always happy with this idea: "Frankly, every company wants to create a standard and be on the top of codes and regulations."
Davenport echoed this concern. "If you look at the industry associations that have been announced, it doesn't give you comfort," says Davenport. "There are some companies that are in five or six associations, joining multiple tribes, trying to hedge their bets."
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Internet of Things Slowed by Industry Roadblock