The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or “things” using electronics and software to collect and exchange information.
It’s not the future as everybody expects … it is now. It is all around us.
The mobile in your hand is an obvious smart object, but these “things” have been around for many years … gathering information and exchanging it with another object or location.
What has brought “IoT” to the fore in the last few years is this new awareness, the fact that it is now formalised with a title we all understand and that it has become easier to build these “things” with standard developer tools.
Until recently, if I wanted to create a device to connect to another device I needed hardware knowledge, I needed to be able to develop in a low level language either at the cpu level of the “thing” or at a level not much higher.
This low level is not required any more by most of us. Even kids are learning how to control “things” using languages like Python in classrooms with simple software instructions.
How do these “things” talk to each other? Well they are adopting standards that have already been put in place by other applications and technologies. Combinations of wifi, Bluetooth and XML, web services, RFID, NFC, small footprint database technologies, etc… are allowing all of these “things” to talk to each other.
Space and size of data storage will increase beyond our comprehension.
There will be trillions of “things” all gathering and sharing information, each of us will be surrounded by 1000’s of “things” collecting information.
RFID chips in every piece of clothing, phones, clocks, watches, whitegoods in the house, TV’s, door chimes, sensors, alarms … the list is endless.
So imagine my delight when Developer Solutions (DSCallards) were asked to build Internet based “things”. Fairly quickly we had a development environment setup with Windows 10 running on a full computer in the palm of your hand.
At the same time our standard day to day development tools are connecting, updating, browsing and debugging applications and databases running on this “thing” connected directly to our network.
Our in-house development skills have just shifted up a couple of gears … and the excitement grows as I ask “where is this technology shift going to take us?”
Here at DSCallards we are building web database applications in the palm of your hand that talk to any device that has an interface … this is the future.
