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November 3, 2015
IOT's Biggest Impact? Business Models
October 26, 2015
Mobility Isn’t Just a Technology, It’s a Mindset
October 20, 2015
The Arrogance of Tech
October 13, 2015
The Tech World Moves to AND, Away from OR
October 6, 2015
Reimagining Personal Computers
September 29, 2015
The Rebirth of Virtual Clients
September 23, 2015
What's Next for Consumer Tech?
September 15, 2015
The Key to IOT Security
September 9, 2015
Home Gateways: Extinction or Evolution?
September 1, 2015
The Real Software Revolution? It’s in the Data Center
August 25, 2015
Is The Tech Market Hitting Middle Age?
August 18, 2015
Building Vertical Platforms for IOT
August 4, 2015
The IOT Monetization Problem
July 28, 2015
The Windows 10 Hardware Argument
July 21, 2015
The Complexity Challenge Drives Shadow IT
July 14, 2015
The Hidden Opportunity of Corporate Smartphones
July 7, 2015
The Analytics of IOT
June 30, 2015
IOT Momentum Starting to Build
June 23, 2015
Breaking the IOT Connection
June 16, 2015
Software is a Service
June 9, 2015
The Challenge of Rising Expectations
June 4, 2015
Insider Extra: Rethinking the Conference Room
June 2, 2015
Win10 + Intel Skylake + Thunderbolt 3 = Interesting PC
May 26, 2015
The IOT Opportunity is Wide Open
May 21, 2015
Insider Extra: The Carrier Challenge for Consumer IOT
May 19, 2015
Maker Movement Drives the Future
May 14, 2015
Insider Extra: The Next Step for Wearables: Health Care
May 12, 2015
Making Sense of IOT
May 5, 2015
A Fresh Look at Wearables
April 30, 2015
Insider Extra: The Amazing HoloLens Leap
April 28, 2015
The Device Dream Team: Large Smartphones and Thin Notebooks
April 23, 2015
Insider Extra: Mobile Sites Should Be Dead
April 21, 2015
Wearables + Connected Cars = IOT Heaven
April 14, 2015
The Future of Wearable Power Is Energy Harvesting
April 7, 2015
Twinning Is Key to Connected Devices
April 2, 2015
Insider Extra: Competing Standard Co-Existence For Wireless Charging and IOT
March 31, 2015
Riding the High-Res Tidal Wave
March 24, 2015
Smart Cars Accelerating Slowly
March 19, 2015
Insider Extra: The Future of Computing is Invisible
March 17, 2015
Smart Home Decade Dilemma
March 10, 2015
Apple Event Surprises
March 3, 2015
Flat Slab Finale?
February 26, 2015
Insider Extra: "Phablet" Impact Continues to Grow
February 24, 2015
Paying for Digital Privacy
February 19, 2015
Insider Extra: The Wire-Free PC
February 17, 2015
Whither Apple?
February 12, 2015
Insider Extra: The Real IOT Opportunity? Industry
February 10, 2015
Business Models For The Internet of Things (IOT)
February 5, 2015
Insider Extra: Is "Mobile Only" The Future?
February 3, 2015
Sexiest New Devices? PCs...
January 29, 2015
Insider Extra: iPhone Next
January 27, 2015
How Will Windows 10 Impact PCs and Tablets?
January 22, 2015
Insider Extra: Hands-On (or Heads-on) With HoloLens
January 20, 2015
Whither Windows 10?
January 15, 2015
Insider Extra: Mobile Security: The Key to a Successful BYOD Implementation
January 13, 2015
Smart Home Situation Likely To Get Worse Before It Gets Better
January 6, 2015
More Tech Predictions for 2015
December 30, 2014
Top 5 Tech Predictions for 2015
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November 10, 2015
By Bob O'Donnell
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke’s famous quote about the relationship between technology and magic—“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”—has proven to be a remarkably prescient commentary on the state of technology and its impact on people for over 50 years now.
The problem today is that people have become too accustomed to the magic, and it’s getting harder and harder to develop new “tricks.” Most consumer’s expectations for what technology can do have become so high, that they’re starting to look for and demand things that technology should do.
One critical technology capability that hasn’t been realized yet is pain-free interconnections between multiple devices, networks, and services. Sure, there have been great improvements in physical connectivity solutions like USB3 and Thunderbolt 3, along with important improvements in wireless networks like 802.11ac, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee. We’ve even seen some important steps forward in interconnect protocols, such as AllJoyn, OIC, and Threads—though there certainly are plenty of challenges (and standards battles) to be solved and resolved there.
Even with those developments, however, the process of making multiple devices in a home (or work environment) seamlessly work together is far from magical. Frankly, it’s often maddening. Configuration challenges, set-up hassles, software installation snafus, networking problems, and more often turn what should be an exciting new experience—firing up a new device or service for the first time—into painful drudgery.
As the number of devices and services that people own and regularly use continues to grow, the problem is just getting worse. Even if you can get a peripheral to work with one device, for example, making it work the way it’s supposed to across multiple devices, is far from guaranteed. Similarly, accessing a new service or application from one device might be straightforward, but making it work with several of your devices can be a nightmare.
What we really need is a capability that automatically discovers all the relevant devices in your home (or work environment) and automatically, or “automagically”, not only connects to them, but enables their full capabilities. In other words, not only do the devices become seamlessly and reliably connected—valuable in itself—but any necessary configuration to make it do what it’s supposed to do happens as well—the real prize.
Technically, this autodiscovery capability is sometimes called enumeration, but even to today’s jaded consumers, it’s bound to feel like magic. Typical (and even relatively technical) consumers and business users have suffered far too long with having to manually configure and enable each device’s capabilities, and as a result, haven’t really been able to appreciate all that their devices could offer. In fact, autodiscovery might give many consumers a new-found appreciation for many of their existing devices and/or services as it could finally enable them to use these devices or services to their fullest extent.
Though it might seem like we should have had these capabilities for a while now, it turns out that to do this accurately and do it well is very challenging. Thankfully, numerous vendors, including Intel and Microsoft among others, are working hard to enable these capabilities. Leveraging a combination of new hardware and software functionality, they’re starting to make this magical dream a reality.
As we move into the world of connected homes, connected cars and other smart things, the ability to not only connect but fully leverage the intelligence they offer is going to be essential. It’s simply too much to expect average users, whether in consumer or commercial environments, to be able to configure all these devices, let alone fully take advantage of the potential they offer. Plus, many of the most important benefits that new devices and services are going to offer will be dependent on their ability to connect to other devices—essentially, a network effect.
That’s where the “magic” of technology needs to step in and ensure that the real value of all these new devices doesn’t get lost in the set-up shuffle. Without these kinds of autodiscovery improvements, many of the kind of innovations these new devices and services hope to offer could end up being for naught.
Here's a link to the original column: https://techpinions.comiots-biggest-impact-business-models/42272
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