In the 20th century, telecommunications technology enabled us to hold conversations with each other at great distances with phones. In the 1990s, we started to connect personal computers (PCs) to the internet, a new telecoms protocol at the time, to share and access resources and information beyond simple voice data across vast distances really quickly.

Starting in the early 21st century, Apple changed the world with the iPhone. They enabled us, everyday citizens, to hold the power of the internet in our palms on the go. The mobile generation truly began.

Starting not long after the smartphone era began, we started seeing the value of being able to access the internet from a whole range of smaller, mobile devices. Not only to “read” data from a whole range of objects but also to “write” data—e.g. instructions—to them. Finally, here’s where the Internet of Things (or “IoT) fits into the story!

The Internet of Things refers to the practice of connecting objects and devices to the internet that previously were “outside” of the reach of the internet. As we’ve seen, until just a few years ago, the internet was constrained to basically two things: computers and then cell phones. Now, we’re bringing a whole range of things online: cars, speakers (e.g.Alexa), home devices like fridges and washing machines, city municipal infrastructure, farming equipment—the list goes on. Read more:

RB Note: To illustrate this on a personal level I had the good/mis fortune (you decide) of replacing one my garage door openers last weekend. It came WiFi ready with an app to download to my phone. It pulls an IP address just like all the other devices. Brave new world.