History of the Internet of Things

We’re going to dedicate some content resources to discussing the Internet of Things in the next few days (it’s sometimes called IoT). Before we get into posts around how and why the Internet of Things will benefit field service management, it’s important to understand two basic concepts:

• What is the Internet of Things?
• What’s some of the history behind the Internet of Things?

What is the Internet of Things?

You can think of IoT as ‘the next phase’ of the Internet. Essentially, everyday items -- for example, your refrigerator -- will have network connectivity, which allows them to send and receive data.

You can view this development in one of two ways, typically:

• This is great, and it will fundamentally change the ways we live and work!
• This is terrifying, security concerns will abound, and our devices will take over!

One of the reasons that IoT isn’t yet completely mainstream is because issues associated with that second bullet point are still being addressed.

What’s the history behind the Internet of Things?

You can technically trace ideas about the Internet of Things to 1932, when Jay Nash wrote this in Spectatoritis:

“Within our grasp is the leisure of the Greek citizen, made possible by our mechanical slaves, which far outnumber his twelve to fifteen per free man… As we step into a room, at the touch of a button a dozen light our way. Another slave sits twenty-four hours a day at our thermostat, regulating the heat of our home. Another sits night and day at our automatic refrigerator…”

Nash understood the capabilities of household objects, as did the creators of Dick Tracy, who gave him the Two-Way Wrist Radio in 1946. The bar code -- one of the primary ways that a household object ‘talks’ to a network -- was invented just three years later, in 1949 (although it didn’t gain popularity until later, when IBM tied it to supermarkets).

In short: the core ideas behind IoT have been around for decades.

Some take it back even further, noting the 1832 invention of the electromagnetic telegraph as well.

Six years before Nash’s quote above, Nikola Tesla told Collier’s Magazine that:

"When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole...and the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket."

Considering the iPhone wasn’t released until 2007, Tesla was quite far ahead of his time. It’s no wonder one of modern day’s most innovative companies is named for him, right?

How will the Internet of Things benefit you?

Ah, patience. That’s for our next post.

For more about the Internet of Things, download our eBook.

Written by Julio Hartstein