The Internet of Things: A New Evolution in the World of Internet

It is no more surprising that the “Internet of Things” (IoT) has become a new evolutionary path for businesses, or you can say it is the next step in the Internet revolution. It harnesses the intelligence of billions of connected devices and sensors that collect big data to make strategic decisions.

   
Paradigm Shift from the World Wide Web (WWW) to the Internet of Things (IoT) 

Over the past few years, the Internet has continuously evolved from being a static source of interlinked text documents to a dynamic world of connected applications, machines, and humans. 

The Internet of Content 

In a sense, we could say the Internet that we all use these days began in the early 90’s with the creation of the World Wide Web and the definition of HTTP. Throughout this initial stage, the web remained static and was used mainly for the purpose of publishing and sharing content. 

The Internet of Services  

Since then, the Internet user has started creating content, XML, web services, and a wide array of businesses, productivity, and intuitive collaboration tools that took us from the static web to the dynamic world of the Internet. This is when we began talking about the Web 2.0.

The Internet of People 

With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, easy availability of affordable mobile broadband access, and the unprecedented rise of social networking sites and mobile apps came a third phase in Internet evolution. That’s where we are today.

The Internet of Things

And now, we are at the point of another tech revolution in the way we are using the Internet.  A revolution that will be only enabled by machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. 

You might know the way we live our daily life changes when every object out there becomes a part of an information system and end-user applications, and thus create a ubiquitous and connected world where humans and machines interact to make our life safer, healthier, and happier than ever. 

Thus, it comes as no surprise that the Internet of Things was at the top position on the latest edition of Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, with an expected five to ten year period to fully develop.

An Unprecedented Opportunity

IoT is emerging as an unparalleled opportunity for many of us in the information technology (IT) sector, communications industry, and consumer electronics industries. Many analysts admit that this is the right time to formulate and commercialize new IoT based devices and applications to change the way we live, the way we work, and the way we entertain. 

Conclusion

As discussed in this post, IoT for beginners is emerging as an unparalleled opportunity for many players in the market. Though today’s media focuses only on applications and devices, it needs to be understood that a network can make or break this next stage in the evolution of the Internet.