But where’s the connection?

Everybody agrees that the Internet of Things – make that the “Internet of Everything” – will change the world as we know it. Soon, machines will talk to each other and coordinate which gets the next load of spare parts first. Smart systems will be able to accurately predict who will cancel a subscription or sign up for an insurance policy, not to mention explaining why early retirement leads to shorter life expectancy and vegetarians miss fewer flights.

All this is just around the corner, IoT enthusiasts insist. But I wonder: when was the last time these guys walked through a typical middle-sized company and watched people at work? They still lug heavy file binders around, don’t they? Office boys still push carts through the corridors piled high with mail to be delivered to the desks, even though the recipient may actually be on vacation or sick at home, so the mail just stacks up unopened. Companies typically print invoices on paper, fold them up, put them in envelopes, stick on a stamp and take them to the neighboring post box where they rest until the postal service van comes by to pick them up.

This is all so Twentieth Century, as my daughter once said when I asked her why she no longer bothered to answer my emails. “If you want to get in touch with me, post it on Facebook”, she said. And I suddenly felt a hundred years old. Weiterlesen →