Andrew Binstock As always, great read.
You raise some excellent points however I believe the word "meta" should be applied in this situation. You note:
"Judging by the amount of coverage, the high-visibility presence of high-profile vendors, the emerging crop of tradeshows, and the inevitable stream of books, you might be fooled into believing that the IoT was an imminent phenomenon for which you were perhaps already late. You're not. It's currently mostly babble about a future hoped-for phenomenon. It is like pre-teens and sex: They're all excitedly talking about it, while in fact no one is actually doing it."
Another way of saying this is it is the industry talking about the industry. Like a film about film, the reason you are seeing/hearing so much about the IoT is because everyone within the IT industry looks at Nest not as a one off, but as a real possibility for their IoT device. Everyone within the industry - engineers to press - chat about the IoT because they are interested in the tech working for the sake of:
A) Being intellectually validated, a sort of "see, we told you so"
B) Hoping a new IoT device they have a hand in gets purchased by the likes of Google.
The IoT, within the IT industry, is meta. It is being talked about because it is being talked about. I would wager this can be proven by walking down any street in New York City to ask strangers:
A) Do you know what the IoT is?
B) Do you know what the Internet of Things is?
C) Do you know what the IoT does? More specfically, do you know how the IoT can help you?
D) Do you know what Nest is?
E) Can you explain the Cloud?
The truth is, the vast majority of everyday consumers have no idea what the IoT is or how it can (eventually) help them. The additional truth is the IT industry as a whole has gone a piss poor job at selling solutions (Cloud) to the public in a meaningful manner.
The bottom line here is and should be - before you move onto another project, nail one down first. For all its possibilities, the IoT needs to grow up before it can be marketed, sold or passed along as the next great IT advance. Would I love a city wired with IoT parking meters to streamline parking? Sure.
Is it near reality? Not at all.
- Brad Yale
InformIT Community Specialist