For someone who in the past found it necessary to keep up to date on the latest technology, I\u2019ve found myself recently looking up technical terms and acronyms that I have absolutely no idea what they mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This last week, I found myself doing \u201cextensive research\u201d on IoT<\/em>. The acronym means \u201cInternet of Things.\u201d I suppose that in the broadest of terms, it encompasses everything that\u2019s connected to the Internet. My research uncovered (I\u2019m not making this up) smart toasters, rectal thermometers and fitness collars for dogs \u2014 things I would call \u201cdumb items\u201d \u2014 that are being connected to the web as part of IoT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously this is the trend \u2014 if you make something, be sure it has an Internet connection. I\u2019m not sure yet, but I think my opinion is that just because something can<\/em> be connected to the Internet, doesn\u2019t mean it should<\/em> be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least theoretically IoT presents an opportunity to be more efficient in how we do things, saving us both time and money. Almost all electronic devices contain one or more sensors. Your iPhone has sensors to detect temperature and other things \u2014 I only recently learned that my iPhone had been tracking my steps \u2014 that capability is built in and I didn\u2019t even know it was there. So now that I know what it is, I\u2019m not particularly comfortable having the \u201cthings\u201d around me gathering all sorts of data and \u201csharing\u201d it on the Internet. I\u2019m just not sure our refrigerator needs to have a Facebook account\u2026.. For someone who in the past found it necessary to keep up to date on the latest technology, I\u2019ve found myself recently looking up technical terms and acronyms that I have absolutely no idea what they mean. This last week, … Continue reading
Of course everything that\u2019s connected to the Internet can be hacked, so the security issues that need to be addressed boggle my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"