What is IoT?
The Internet of Things (IoT) means connecting cars, boats, propane tanks, refrigerators, and every other “thing" to the internet. It means automatically knowing the location and status of all of an organization’s most important things, in real-time. It means truly understanding how an organization is functioning, and how it can improve. It means doing what humans cannot, so that humans are freed to do what only humans can. IoT Changes Everything™.
Why IoT Matters
In 1968, rail companies only knew where ~5% of their box cars were at any given time. Seems absurd, right? Yet even today, many organizations don’t know the location nor status of their most critical assets and ineffectively try to address these problems with manual effort and guesses. For the first time these problems are solvable at scale, and IoT is how. IoT matters because it can amplify the human potential of every organization, enabling them to achieve more with less effort to the benefit of everyone.
IoT is the Next Stage of Digital Transformation
01
The first wave of digital transformation was the PC Stage, when PCs were networked with each other using Ethernet. No longer was there a one-to-one relationship of person-to-computer, but now, networks of people and computers were formed. This created an explosion in business applications, like email and spreadsheets, reduced friction within organizations to get work done, and enabled the great success of companies like Microsoft and Oracle. The PC Stage changed everything.
02
The second wave of digital transformation was the Web Stage, when the World Wide Web ascended and computers were networked over great distances using optical fiber. No longer were networks of computers geographically isolated and predominantly located within organizations, but now, consumers used the web browser to tap into a global community. This created an explosion in web pages, reduced friction to reach customers, and enabled the great success of companies like Google and Amazon. The Web Stage changed everything.
03
The third wave of digital transformation was the Mobile Stage, when the iPhone unleashed mass adoption of smartphones networked using cellular 4G. No longer were people only connected to the web if they owned a PC and were sitting in front of it, but now, virtually all people could be connected anywhere, at all times. This created an explosion in social networks and mobile applications, reduced friction for organizations to interact with their customers and employees, and enabled the great success of companies like Apple and Facebook. The Mobile Stage changed everything.
04
IoT is the next stage of digital transformation. Billions of cheap devices will provide real-time insights into every asset, process, and system that’s important to a given organization using Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs). No longer will organizations wonder at the location or status of their things and/or collect this information manually, but instead, organizations will know automatically and in real-time about everything that’s important to their success. This will create an explosion in IoT solutions, reducing friction within organizations to gain critical insights and make effective decisions, and will enable the great success of the dominant companies of tomorrow. IoT changes everything.
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