The Internet of Things (week2)

The Internet of Things is is one of the emerging technologies that are expected to prevail in the four to five year timeframe as identified by the New Media Consortium. Now that IPv6 is taking over, the address space for items on the internet has greatly increased. This allows billions of devices to be directly addressed including miniature smart sensors and other devices. These devices can provide environmental sensing and device tracking among other benefits. Additionally other technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) allows for contactless communication between devices that are in close proximity.

(Picture created by myself using Visio)

The report claims that these devices do not need a power supply. This may be true in the sense that they get parrasitic power from the host systems that they are attached to, or possibly they contain battery power that allows them to operate for the desired mission life before the battery drains. Alternatively they might be getting solar power if the environment allows for it. But I believe that one limiting force in adopting the Internet of Things is technological and the power source is that limiting factor.

The second limiting force for adoption of the Internet of Things is cultural. People are becoming more accepting of pervasive technology with the use of electronic devices but having devices around every corner monitoring our lives may take longer to find acceptance because people still like privacy and may see the devices as an intrusion especially if employed by government or law enforcement.

I believe that the selection of this technology is the least relevant to teaching, learning, and creative inquiry than the others that made the list. If you describe learning in a broad way such as collecting information then this technology would be relevant. The Delphi approach that was used probably had a positive impact on the selection of this technology. The NMC picks an advisory board and supplies a percentage of new people every year to provide a fresh perspective. The members look at current trends and articles to select the potential technologies and narrowed in on this topic as a leading one.