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ENP162->Blog8

Updated: Dec 17, 2018

IOT and other stuff


If you google 'IoT,' There are lots of blogs and papers. What is IoT? Is it a good thing or bad? Specifically, I found two things interesting:

  1. How smart should it be?

  2. Is it true that we do it only because we can?(not really need IoT?)


The amount of 'smart.'


Ten years ago, the fact that you own a smartphone would cheer you up for days. But now, when you saw a new smart home device, you might expect more than it offers. Users have read about all the possibility for smart home devices, such as sound control, light sensory, and AI assistant. With current technology, when we need a lamp, we are excepting maybe a lamp with a virtual assistant, or a lamp that could automatically turn on when you get home.


However, determine the right the amount of “smart” is a hard question. Have you ever consider how smart you want your lamp to be?

In How Smart Should Your Smart Solution Be? The author pointed out there are three levels to make it smart, smarter, and the smartest. As a consumer or a product designer, you should think about how much amount of 'smart' you actually need instead of looking for the coolest one available.

We can do it ≠ We need it

When you start thinking the amount of smart you want, you are also thinking about what you really need. For some of the IoT products, we try to make it a better version using all the technique we have. Adding sensors and interface for the product would definitely provide more personal control, but do we need it? Do you want to talk to your coffee maker to track your health data?


Data

We can't avoid data collect using a 'smart IoT,' all things connected to the internet can be put into three categories:

Things that collect information and then send it.

Things that receive information and then act on it.

Things that do both.

And all three of these have enormous benefits that feed on each other.


As an experiment, journalist Kashmir Hill turned her home into a smart home for two months while a coworker hooked up a router to analyze how much data her connected devices gathered and who it sent it to. They discovered that devices sent data to servers every hour of every day. Even when Hill and her husband left for vacation for a week. They even tracked how frequently she brushed her teeth, which is useful data for dental insurance companies.

As a scarify to smarter devices, you might have to give up more of your privacy for the power. Does it worth?







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