An explanation of the Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things, or “IoT” for short, is about extending the power of the internet beyond computers and smartphones to other things, processes and environments. Here is everything you need to know. Perhaps, you’ve heard that the Internet of Things has the power to drastically change our lives, from the way we manage and operate our homes to even automating jobs in nearly any industry. But what exactly is IoT? I have been asked that question more times than I can count and, over the last few years, I have assembled the answer into something I think everyone can understand. In this article, I’m going to share everything you need to know about the Internet of Things.
What is IoT?
If you just Google “what is IoT?”, Many answers need not be technical. The core problem:
“The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interconnected computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people equipped with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data across networks without the need for human-to-human or human. -to-computer interaction. ”
If you’ve just read that and are thinking, “okay… what?”, You are not alone. Most people don’t want or don’t need to dive into the ins and outs of IoT. So in this post, I’m going to provide a simple explanation of the Internet of Things and how it can affect you. It can also serve as a resource to share with others who need an introduction to IoT (such as friends, family members or customers).
Before we get in, note that “Internet of Things” and “IoT” can and will be used interchangeably. And a quick tip: avoid saying “IoT”.
Internet of Things (IoT) explained
How are you reading this post now? It might be on desktop, on mobile, maybe on a tablet, but whatever device you’re using, it’s connected to the internet.
An internet connection is a wonderful thing, it provides us with all kinds of benefits that were not possible before. If you are old enough, think about your phone before it becomes a smartphone. You can call and text for sure, but now you can read any book, watch any movie, or listen to any song in the palm of your hand. And that’s just to mention some of the awesome things your smartphone can do.
Connecting things to the internet yields many tremendous benefits. We’ve all seen these benefits with our smartphones, laptops and tablets, but it’s also true of everything else. And yes, I mean everything.
The Internet of Things is actually a fairly simple concept, meaning that it takes everything in the world and connects it to the internet.
I think the confusion arises not because the concept is so narrow and tightly defined, but because the concept is so broad and loosely defined. It can be difficult to grasp the concept in your head when there are so many examples and possibilities in IoT.
To help clarify, I think it’s important to understand the benefits of connecting things to the internet. Why do we even want to connect everything to the internet?
Why IoT Matters
When something is connected to the internet, it means it can send information or receive information, or both. This ability to send and / or receive information makes things smart, and smart is good. Let’s take another smartphone (smartphone) as an example. Today you can listen to almost any song in the world, but that’s not because your phone stores all the songs in this world. That’s because every song in the world is stored elsewhere, but your phone can send information (ask for the song) and then receive information (stream the song on your phone). To be smart, one doesn’t need to have super storage or super computers on it. All you have to do is connect to super storage or to a super computer. Connecting is great.
In the Internet of Things, anything connected to the internet can be grouped into three categories:
The things that collect information and then send it.
The things that receive information and then act on it.
Things that do both.