In January, Google purchased home automation company Nest Labs, the maker of the Nest Thermostat, for $3.2 billion. This purchase was a huge sign that big companies (like Google) very strongly believe that we will soon live in a world where everything is connected online.
This new world has been coined “The Internet Of Things” and will soon be the reality of the world that we live in. Consider that high-quality sources estimate that by the year 2020, between 26 and 30 billion devices will be connected to the Internet and more than half of these devices will be everyday appliances such as thermostats, refrigerators, parking meters, trash cans and such.
SAP describes the “Internet Of Things” as everything from smartphone apps that control your home’s lights and temperature from afar to real-time analytics that help ease traffic congestion and city parking woes.
Imagine a world where:
- You can find a parking spot and reserve it with your mobile wallet before you arrive.
- Traffic stoplights adjust to real-time conditions automatically to improve the flow of traffic.
- Municipalities detect trash levels in containers to optimize trash collection routes.
- Car insurance companies can track your actual miles driven and allow you to pay insurance only for the miles that you drive.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and if Google’s projections are true, you are going to see huge adoption of these devices coming fast.
