The Internet of Things (IoT) is being touted as a technology that will make life easier through the networking of things, but there are still many technical and security issues to be resolved. While IoT has great potential for success, it’s not currently a guaranteed commercial success like previous buzzwords.
When you think about the future, most people probably have a slightly sci-fi idea of robots running around the house and living a comfortable life in an environment of machines. In reality, this is at least partially realized thanks to advances in technology, especially with the recent development of smartphones, which are bringing us closer to the future we envision. One concept that’s been gaining traction lately to bring us closer to that future is the Internet of Things. At first glance, the idea of creating a network of objects that communicate and interact with each other by attaching chips to everything around us sounds like it would be incredibly convenient.
However, the technology of the future is not just about convenience. Many research efforts have the potential to fundamentally change our daily routines and quality of life. For example, the use of IoT in healthcare is helping to create an environment where patients’ health status can be monitored in real time and the necessary treatment can be provided immediately. IoT technology is also an integral part of smart cities, where it is being used to create sustainable cities by optimizing traffic flow and reducing energy consumption. As you can see, IoT has the potential to go beyond everyday convenience and bring about fundamental changes across society. However, despite these positive possibilities, there are still many technological and societal challenges that the IoT needs to address.
This is not true of IoT as a term in the real world. If you look at real-world use cases, the word IoT is being used so indiscriminately that it seems to be more of a buzzword than a concept.
As I said, the IoT is a collection of services that allow objects to communicate with each other over a network to provide better convenience than ever before. The problem is that the word “network” is so vague that it could be an earring in your ear or a nose ring in your nose. According to Wikipedia, a network is a collection of terminals, links, or nodes that are connected for the purpose of enabling communication between terminal users. We usually think of networks as large communication networks like the Internet or telephone networks, but by definition, a simple set of devices like a TV and remote control or a camera and intercom in your home can also be called a network. They interact over the network and provide us with a lot of convenience, so it’s actually a good example of a remote control or intercom that fits the definition of IoT. This may sound very far-fetched, but it’s not that different from what many entrepreneurs are introducing as new IoT services. A quick Google search will reveal many examples of IoT, such as smartphone apps that water your plants or programs that show you when a public restroom is empty.
Let’s take the phrase “networked convenience” a bit further. Specifically, the network allows users to access things anytime, anywhere, and the things themselves determine the information and provide useful services. However, this is just a much broader synthesis of what already existed. The idea of things making their own decisions about information has been around for a few years now under the recently buzzed-about keyword “smart,” and the idea of anytime, anywhere access has been around for over a decade under the name “ubiquitous. Considering the ubiquity of ubiquity in textbooks and the many novelty products that have been introduced in the past few years, as well as the many failed products that have been introduced under the name of smart, it is a natural conclusion that the products that are being introduced under the name of IoT are not much different from before. In other words, it’s just a new name for the same old thing, and it’s a recipe for the same old results.
Also, one of the big problems with IoT is security. As things become more networked, personal information and data is transmitted through more paths, which can increase the risk of hacking or cyberattacks. Especially when utilizing IoT in healthcare or finance, a lack of security can lead to privacy breaches and financial losses. Therefore, before IoT technology can be commercialized, more thorough security and management measures must be in place. If these technical obstacles are not addressed, the positive effects of the IoT will be halved.
So, are there any commercially successful IoT products? The answer is yes, there are, but there are also a lot of red flags. Let’s take a look at some examples. HiPass is a very convenient service that automatically calculates the toll when passing through a toll gate. It is considered one of Korea’s leading IoT success stories, and it effectively solved the bottleneck caused by toll payment at toll gates. From the user’s point of view, it is also a great convenience that can be solved by installing only one terminal without having to carry cash and tickets. However, was IoT at the center of HiPass’s success? Although the concept of IoT was proposed in the 1990s, it was only in the mid-2000s that it really started to gain traction, and it was only in the 2010s that it became known and noticed in Korea. However, HighPass started piloting in 2000, a full decade before the concept of IoT was known in Korea, so while it is very similar to IoT in terms of outcome and direction, it cannot be considered as a case that was developed with the aim of IoT. The same goes for other cases that are presented as IoT success stories. While it’s true that all of them have been successful along similar lines to IoT, it’s hard to argue that they were developed with IoT in mind.
IoT is a great technology. We’ve only talked about the downsides, but the general consensus is that it’s a futuristic technology that will allow all things to interact to create an experience unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. On a small scale, it could end up being a remote control added to a few objects around us, but on a larger scale, it has the potential to radically change our lives, just like smartphones. But there are still a lot of mountains to climb and a long way to go. There are no clear guidelines on what to do and how to do it, and even academics are still talking in circles. It remains to be seen how the technology will evolve in the future, but what’s clear is that IoT is not at the forefront of the next generation of technology, but rather a one-time buzz word like ubiquitous, smart, green, and so on. While it’s good to move forward, we shouldn’t be throwing words around like we’re doing now.
