This week, when I was learning about the potential for the “Internet of things” to revolutionize my life, I thought, hey, this sounds pretty cool! Ted took us through the diagram in the lecture (pictured above) which outlines how the Internet could have the ability to predict every minor adjustment in your day, which could potentially eliminate any excuse to be late for work, forget your jacket if it’s a colder than usual day, or run out of petrol.
The diagram suggests that the communication created by the RFID tags, provide data that allows one to exercise a mundane routine without the presence of anything unexpected ruining your morning. What a wonderful technological development!
What’s more, these technologies have an abundance of health related benefits. Numerous devices that monitor blood pressure, heart rate, levels of hormones and blood components and the like, are connected directly to the Internet and stored, monitored and analysed. With Glance confirming that by 2014, “there will be about 400 million wearable wireless sensors” (2011) the number of diseases and conditions that will be predicted early and therefore prevented will be a massive medical breakthrough.
However, as I researched further into this topic, many of the articles I read had an undertone of scepticism…. “The Catch” as Glance coins it…
“But how could this be?” I hear you all ask! How could the technologies that are going to reduce hardship of our not-so-labour intensive lives, possibly be a bad thing?!
Take myself for example, I have a smart phone, and I use it a lot. BUT, I am with Optus… and therefore the service I get in the Wollongong area is ridiculously bad and SO frustrating. I have a piece of technology that has the potential to do all of these amazing things, but I can’t even send a simple text message or make a phone call! And so it is hard for me to imagine a “technology driven utopian world in which billions of devices are all communicating seamlessly and controlling everything around us to improve our lives” (Glance, 2011). So is there going to be too much reliance on technology in the future?
Another concern of mine is the question of ownership. Who will end up owning and controlling the huge amount of data compiled from the Internet of things? There will be huge privacy, security and safety issues arising from these developments.
So I leave you with this, how do you find the balance between the Internet of things being used for the benefit of individuals, society and businesses in terms of increasing efficiency, safety and health, and the dangers of safeguards and controls?
Glance, D 2011, “The Internet of Things – this is where we’re going,” The Conversation, accessed 30.20.2011, http://theconversation.edu.au/the-internet-of-things-this-is-where-were-going-3965
I found this diagram that Ted showed in the lecture very interesting, in particular the exam with the alarm clock. Its amazing that the internet would be able to adjust parts of your day without you even realizing. The idea that the alarm on your clock will adjust each day on it’s own depending on the weather outside, if you need petrol, if there is a accident on your route to work or if you simply need to have a shower is amazing. I was unaware of this potential technology prior to this weeks lecture and now I am fascinated by it. We defiantly will not have any excuse to be late anywhere anymore.
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