Have you heard of the “Internet of Things?” If not, I am sure you soon will, as it appears to be taking over our world. And we need to be ready for it if we don’t want to get into big trouble!
The Internet of Things refers to the interconnectedness of physical devices, the Internet and other devices or machines.
In other words, every day products talk to other every day products via Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4G, etc. to ensure that everything is working properly.
And for the most part, I think it is great.
It is exactly what we see in the Iron Man movies when Tony Stark talks to his house “butler” and adjusts everything by the power of his voice (or in most cases here, via mobile phone).
At this point, we can adjust the temperature of our home with Nest, allow remote entry through our front door with the August smart lock or the Goji and control our living room lighting with the Hue Personal Lighting System.
In a previous post I talked about wearables which monitor your personal data and OMsignal may soon be bringing us health-monitoring shirts.
Next up is likely the Protect which will alert us when we are out that our smoke alarm has been triggered and the ivee Sleek which allows you to personalize your sleeping and wake-up routines via voice command and Wi-Fi.
And in less than a decade, you can expect self-driving cars that communicate with one another through the airwaves…
And this is all really good.
We LOVE modern conveniences provided by cutting edge technology.
But what happens when something gets hacked?
Next thing you know, you are living in a horror movie where your driverless car is being controlled by someone else and your pacemaker is being reset by someone in another country.
It’s a real-life Hackers but played on an individual level, person by person.
So, what are we to do?
Do we stop taking advantage of all of these technological advancements?
I don’t know about you, but I am not ready to give up my cell phone to ward against strangers stealing my personal information.
Do we close our eyes and ignore the risks?
Or, do we do our best to make sure that we are as protected as possible within reason, fully vetting all new smart products before jumping into the pool?
Tell us your thoughts in the Comments below…