The Internet of Things Continues to Expand

The Internet of Things is a broad term used to identify the intersection of our physical world and the Internet. Much like its partner-in-concepts “the cloud”, the term “Internet of Things” can be used to describe a myriad of technical scenarios, but focuses specifically on connecting everyday objects to the Internet, as opposed to providing software on the Internet as the “the cloud” does.

As processing power becomes smaller and cheaper, and wireless Internet access becomes ubiquitous, cheaper and more efficient, more and more physical devices are being outfitted with tiny Internet-enabled computers – bridging our offline world with the new online world we’ve created for ourselves.

Common everyday objects from our physical world, such as parking meters, baby monitors and kitchen appliances, are becoming connected, blurring the lines between online and offline to create a new Internet of Things (IOT).

Increasingly we expect devices such as smart meters and cars to have apps (“there’s an app for that”) and to be connected to other devices, such as smartphones and tablets.