Why the Internet of Things ?

[Chris Boss]

Whether we like it or not, IOT (better known as the Internet of Things) is the next big wave in technology. A lot will likely fall by the wayside in the efforts to turn this into a viable market, but it is here to stay. So what is the Internet of Things ?

In short, it is small devices (from wearables to devices in our appliances) which talk to the cloud (internet servers) to share important data.

While personally I think all the stuff about IOT making it into the home is hype, some of it will eventually make it there and likely stay. But where I think IOT is important is in business. Some of the best uses of IOT likely will come to the business market and it make sense. To illustrate, everyone has a cell phone, but for home use it is nice, useful and at times life saving, but it is still a technology which we really could live without if we wanted to. But in the business world, much would come to a halt without it. In a fast paced world, a cell phone is almost a must for a business. From salesmen on the road to repair men, communication opens up many doors.

I think IOT will be the same. While it may make it into the home (sadly everybody likes a fad), I think it will make a big mark in the business world.

Companies like Intel are very serious about IOT. Look at the tiny x86 based chips they are making now (Edison, Curie). They are serious about this and as programmers so should we. But rather than view it as a fad for home use, programmers can look at it as an opportunity for businesses.

To start this forum here is a good place to start and that is Intels IOT web site: https://software.intel.com/en-us/iot/home

As I research this subject of the IOT, particularly how it relates to PowerBasic programmers I will share some of this here in this forum.

[Travis Siegel]

I have run the OT version of windows on my raspberry pi, and while I see a lot of use for such a thing, I have to agree that it could do wonders for businesses. In fact, I'm trying to figure out why some of these companies that produce pos systems don't just pop it all on a raspberry pi, and sell the whole thing as a done package, with no need for the consumer to purchase expensive hardware/registers/computers as most require. Admittedly, the raspberry pi is an arm processor, and won't run powerbasic (sadly enough) but there are intel alternatives, and if I can get my hands on one, I plan to test it for pb compatibility, I can see loads of uses for such, including gaming machines, digital management (such as libraries, music sellers, audio books, and more). It's a trend that is only going to get larger, and as you've said, unfortunately, not likely to invade the home, unless it's done via appliances or something. If pb had an arm version, you can bet I'd be using it on my windows IOT on my pi, but alas, I'm better off using raspbian and programming in C or free basic, free pascal, or any of the other myriad of languages available on linux distributions. It's a bit more muscle than most folks need, but it does the trick, though it's not a simple setup (unless you sell sd cards with everything already on it for the end users). I of course, don't sell anything, just produce images for folks to download (like gaming machines for the visually impaired, with speech running on raspbian), most don't like the speech on pispeak, but it does the job, and I'm hoping to make it something folks like and want to use. But, anyhow, I apologize for hijacking your thread, just wanted to add to the discussion a bit.

[Chris Boss]

Some x86 alternatives to the Raspberry PI:

LattePanda comes with Windows 10 - http://www.lattepanda.com/


Jaguarboard - http://www.jaguarboard.org/index.php...x86-based.html


There are also a number of x86 (Windows) TV style boxes (small PC's the size of a Roku).

Here is one - https://www.dfrobot.com/index.php?ro...roduct_id=1282


With tiny sized PCs available today for about $100 (with Windows), the Raspberry Pi is less appealing. And the beauty of it, they will run apps we write with PowerBasic.


Now if one prefers the Windows Embedded route, likely one could strip down Windows to the bare minimum for PB app and the hardware requirements would be much less.

[Michael Stapleton]

More like the Internet of Threats.

[Knuth Konrad]

Indeed!

With manufacturers blatantly ignoring security best practice (because of the ever present corporate greed), there's only one guaranteed "benefit" for any consumer of IoT: glaring security holes. If you wanna be robed left and right and having your privacy invaded - go ahead, you the hype train.

[Gary Beene]

I lost sleep last night ... worrying that someone would hack my refrigerator and discover what leftovers I've been eating! They could demand a ransom, threatening to give the information to my doctor!

[Kerry Farmer]

I lost sleep last night ... worrying that someone would hack my refrigerator and discover what leftovers I've been eating! They could demand a ransom, threatening to give the information to my doctor!

I have it on good authority is that it was your Doctor who was looking. Remember that last form of the Doctors that you signed? Did you read the fine print?

[Jim Fritts]

For those older than us IOT must mean Internet of Thingies.

[Robert Wallace]

For the even older of us "In-Out Transfer" commands

[Knuth Konrad]

I have it on good authority is that it was your Doctor who was looking. Remember that last form of the Doctors that you signed? Did you read the fine print?

You might be joking there, but looking at how things evolved in the past, I wouldn't be too surprised if all the data accumulated that way might sooner or later have an impact on your wallet. In your joking doctor example: the health insurance tariff.

And who needs three letter agency's wiretapping any longer, if everyone voluntarily set ups surveillance systems in their homes themselves and even pay for it. There's so much a concerned citizen should be worried about these developments.

[Chris Boss]

While consumer style IOT devices may be a bit of a joke at times and there are dangers, industrial, commercial and medical IOT devices appear to have some real value. IOT likely will weed out the many poor uses of it over time, but there are many valuable uses for it and the big tech companies see this. Security is not only an issue for IOT, but it is an issue for any device which can connect to the internet, from PC's, tablets to phones.

[Kerry Farmer]

You might be joking there, but looking at how things evolved in the past, I wouldn't be too surprised if all the data accumulated that way might sooner or later have an impact on your wallet. In your joking doctor example: the health insurance tariff..

You are absolutely right

I get concerned when people seem to know about things about me and I am not sure where they got it from. In NZ you sign a form which says that other medical providers can access your records (you do not have to sign) but it is clearly in your advantage to sign. But we need to manage this trend

[Steve Hutchesson]

Can you think of how important it is for your refrigerator to accurately monitor the temperature of its content so it can report any variations to your smartphone ? Then of course your microwave can sense temperature gradients in what you warmed up for breakfast while reporting this to your medical records so that insurers can accurately evaluate your dietary habits and charge you accordingly. Then of course your TV set can use facial recognition to test your level of interest in both the programs you can watch and your response to advertising so that the advertising can better fit what you should be interested in and the ratings for television programs can be determined automatically to fix the advertisers price for the air time they hire.

If you are not a fan of this monitoring madness, have a fridge that is truly dumb and only keeps its contents cold, if microwave ovens start to get "smart", set up a fuel stove and burn whatever rubbish you can find to cook with as it will still produce less pollution than the manufacturing process of what you have replaced, retire your smartphone to the recyclers, keep your PC for writing software and go and join the real analogue world that has sights, sounds, smells and human beings.

[Knuth Konrad]

If you are not a fan of this monitoring madness, have a fridge that is truly dumb

As of today: no problem at all (to just stay away from 'smart' fridges). *But* - will there still be 'dumb' fridges available in the future?

I'm looking at i.e. at smartphones. I never ever took a picture with any cell phone I own(ed), smart or not. Therefore I would prefer a smartphone without a camera. I do like the "smart" part, though. I've looked around for smartphones without a camera ... found three suppliers and the phones were s ..... ubpar, to say the least. I wouldn't mind the camera at all - I just don't use it, but the camera contributes significantly to the price of a smartphone.

[Thomas Tierney]

dish washers that sense the level of dirt on a plate and washes accordingly, a tv that can connect to Netflix via Wi-Fi... these are considered smart devices as well... and I don't think they are going anywhere.. in a couple of years you probably won't be able to by an appliance or tv without a computer inside of it.. here are some problems you can run into - the two TV's we analyzed their MB found that the core OS used a Linux variation OS, dependent upon old api's that had been banned for cause... and, these devices were also used in a global event a few months ago where Wireless TV's, Microwaves, refrigerators were used to perform a DDOS attack against a large DNS service on the east coast... it lasted well over a day and couldn't get any work done.. but hey... it's a grand new world we live in

[Jim Fritts]

1) No need to worry if a dumb device will be available in the future.
2) If the device is barred from gaining connection to the internet it is essentially a dumbed down device.
3) If said device does not perform a dedicated function as a standalone dumbed down device it will not survive in the marketplace.
EX: Try using an Amazon Echo without internet connection.

The problem is generally not the device or the support chain that makes use of the data reported by the device. The problem is the end user's lack of attention to detail about security protocols.

[Kerry Farmer]

1)

The problem is generally not the device or the support chain that makes use of the data reported by the device. The problem is the end user's lack of attention to detail about security protocols.

Jim

You are exactly right, of course

But forgive me, I think that is a techo's answer.

Does the ordinary non-techo understand or appreciate that?

It is the same as me - I have clicked 'yes' to the fine print many times in the last year on my screen but I have never read them - and so have you????

On a slightly different tack, we in NZ have just increased the way that the banks give police our banking information - all good anti-terrorist stuff. But it raises the matter that the police are monitoring my spending even when they do not suspect me of anything - and that is quite a lot more than what they used to do. They used to start monitoring me only after they suspected me - which is fine. I suspect that this monitoring is happening all over the world and indeed there is some suggestion that the Americans 'asked' us to do it. But am I allowed to say in the IOT, that my bank has become a 'thing' for the purpose?

[Jim Fritts]

Hmm,
Thanks Kerry. I guess I should revise my statement in light of today's news. My comments were directed at the DDOS a few months ago and whether there would be a problem obtaining a dumb device to cook my toast in the future.

From the news... Google, Facebook, and others are selling our data to the highest bidder. That's a personal security issue in itself.
IOT devices will make most of our data public if the selling trend continues. I tend to think of my data as useless; however, with all the Baby boomers reaching retirement their data may be pushing up new markets. Data mining could be very lucrative in the future.

The machines that interact with us on a daily basis will need to know something about us. Their existence depends on it. This is a shout out to my personal favorite. "WATSON" if you are listening... Thank you so much bro for all your help. In the future.

[Knuth Konrad]

Given the current U.S. legilation, I wouldn't worry so much about Google and FB. U.S. citizens should be more worried about their ISPs, to which the alloawnce has been granted to sell a user's browsing/access history. By the very nature of this, the ISP by far knows way more of your browsing habits than any of the "Googles". Add Deep Packet Inspection to the picture, and that becomes even more scary.

[Dale Yarker]

Are ISPs going to give Internet service for free? We go to Google, FB, etc voluntarily, and they keep their lights on by selling information and ads. We may select an ISP volunarily, BUT they bill us for the service. They are already paid. Selling our names and habits is therefore robbery. The FCC was right, and the elected officials just want money for re-election.