Is Internet of Things overrated?

Those who are interested in new technologies must have met those who declared: “I did this 25 years ago!” when it comes to IoT. Having heard such a couple of times, you involuntarily wonder, and who is right? Those who claim that IoT is a new word in the world of rapidly developing technologies or those who say that the Internet of Things is the new name for old technology?

The beginnings of telematics (from which IoT subsequently grew) originated in the early 20th century - and have been developing since then, moreover, evolutionarily and not linearly.

It all started with local solutions that made it possible to automate something by establishing communication (wired or using short-range channels) between units: automatic notification systems, automatic opening and closing of gates, monitoring, etc. Technically, the structure was the same: the glands collecting information, transmitting it from the outside and executing commands, networks, and also the systems that aggregated this at home contained the business logic and application layer. But at first, it was a specific, expensive niche story. Previously, automation was available only in a limited number of areas and only for enterprises with a large budget.

At the same time, in engineering from time to time, quantitative and qualitative changes accumulate, which cause qualitative changes in the business. In each of the components of the future IoT architecture (hardware, network, server), significant changes took place over several decades.

Devices have become smaller in size, their cost has decreased significantly, many models have significantly increased battery life - powerful built-in batteries now allow devices to work up to 10 years without a power supply. The market can now consume billions of sensors - and use them in areas where previously it was not possible.

IoT is the next step in the chain after telematics, it can perform its tasks, but it also includes a much wider range of possibilities. In turn, everything progressive should be indicated by a new term.

Thus, the term IoT was created and popularized, primarily to protect a new round of technology development in the eyes of customers and investors. At the same time, the IoT concept does not have any rigid framework and restrictions - if desired, even robots on Mars controlled by NASA space centers can be included in the Internet of Things.

So far, telematics and IoT share the same market, but gradually the percentage of telematics in it will decrease. Today, hundreds of companies offer specialized IoT development services for almost all niches and industries. At the same time, telematics, as such, will not disappear, as specific clients remain - such as military organizations isolated from the Internet.

IoT differs from telematics and Big Data in the ability not only to collect information about the object, but also to manage this very object. The main value of Internet Of Things is in the automation of processes and in the ability to manage something at the level of real-world objects, having deleted people from intermediaries from the chain. Although IoT is still closely connected with neural networks and Big Data, since the latter work with data, aggregated IoT and telematics.

By the way, minimizing human participation is one of the main "chips" of IoT, so some developers call the Internet of Things a concept for combining digital space with the real world. The “Internet of Things”, on the other hand, connects a person with an object of the real world directly and serves not only as a connecting link, but also as a direct executor of commands.

I don't think IoT is overestimated. Thus, IoT is not a new technology, but a new concept and a new way to utilize an existing automation technology, its democratization. IoT can easily cope with the task of 25 years ago. Still, the telematics of those times is not capable of what IoT is intelligent today.

Thanks for reading!