I've been seeing a lot of use of the term IoT (I've been calling it Low T). Honestly, what is it really? And why has it become so popular a "thing"? What can a novice like me do with it?

(title block - I used a capitol "I", small "o" and - um "T" but I don't know if it's a capitol I or a small L)

 

Internet of Things.

 

Internet of Things. It's your internet enabled refrigerator, your internet enabled thermostat, your internet enabled security camera etc.

 

Don't worry about it. In a few years there will be another Buzzword that will change everything.

 

@Hymie Thank you sir. I was thinking that's what it meant. But it means as much to me as ToR (Tire of Round). What could I possibly do with IoT? What are some basic benefits of it?

 

@Ylli Thanks. Had no idea it was that simple.

@nsaspook Thanks as well. Seems like everyone likes new "buzzwords".

I've seen some things on IoT here but haven't been able to find anything to clarify it for me. I'm like that. I need things explained in clear and simple terms. For instance; Red is Red. Blue is Blue. Mauve is - um - I don't know WHAT the heck Mauve is. I know it's a color but couldn't tell you where it resides on the spectrum. (and I'm not asking about Mauve either - I just don't care.)

 

@Hymie Thank you sir. I was thinking that's what it meant. But it means as much to me as ToR (Tire of Round). What could I possibly do with IoT? What are some basic benefits of it?

Want to just lie in bed all day watching X? Do you want your brain to turn into complete mush? Would you love to live in a world of total commercial and government surveillance? If you do, then IoT is the solution.

 

@nsaspook I used to love Mush Brain back when I was an older Teen and a young 20 something. For that I used a little pot. Good thing with that - - - no surveillance.

 

It's bad enough that Google et al know our innermost secrets and habits. I don't relish the thought of such organisations deciding what I'm allowed to keep in my fridge, or some hacker installing malware on my TV or intercepting comms to decide when to burgle the house. And once the novelty has worn off, is there any real value in being able to adjust the thermostat on my heating from the other side of the world?
No IoT for me, thanks.

 

@Ylli T For instance; Red is Red. Blue is Blue. Mauve is - um - I don't know WHAT the heck Mauve is. I know it's a color but couldn't tell you where it resides on the spectrum.

This Wikipedia:

"Mauve is a pale purple color that sits between violet and pink in the color wheel, named after the mallow flower, also called mauve in French.
Today, the name mauve has remained the more popular name.
Interestingly, mauve became a color name in the late 1700s, according to the Oxford English Dictionary."
Max.

 

Hello,

You can find the color names here:
https://www.99colors.net/color-names



Bertus

 

Basically, think of it as data and control connectivity either wired or wireless. Want to connect that Arduino to the NET? Or share game scores with others from that handheld game? etc... I guess you could say the smartphone was one.

 

some hacker installing malware on my TV or intercepting comms to decide when to burgle the house. And once the novelty has worn off, is there any real value in being able to adjust the thermostat on my heating from the other side of the world?

One of the more popular insidious hacks has been baby monitors and scaring the crap out of parents as a means of getting their jollies.

 

The `Internet of Things` is much like the term `Multimedia` 20 years ago – it means whatever you want.

 

IoT = Internet of Things = a really good way to lose everything you have.

Essentially IoT refers to the notion of connecting anything and everything to the Internet just because we can and not because there is any actual value in doing so. This is not to say that we can't find actual value at times within the morass of connected devices -- we can. But the sad reality is that the people implementing much of this technology are following the traditions set down by everyone before them and are usually only focused on finding a way, any way, to accomplish some new whiz-bang feature and the last thing they are thinking about is security. The result is that a depressingly large volume of these devices, often hanging on wireless connections, are highly vulnerable to being used as an inroads into a network. Once in the network, attackers can then seek out other vulnerabilities from the inside and breach other things. Do your online banking on a computer that uses the same internet connection or the same wireless router as your television, your security camera, your stereo, your toaster, your hot tub, your thermostat, your door bell, your ...? There's a good chance that one of those devices can be used to penetrate your network and get at your banking data or any other sensitive data that you thought was nice and safe.

 

My department was recently moved from a general development branch under a new branch called IoT. Can´t say I have much of understanding of what it should exactly be when it comes to industry automation, we are still doing the what we were before. But I see it as aiming towards all the little devices being connected into some network, and should provide some form of high level managment. In my field it would likely be used for some early diagnostic and failure prediction, I guess tied to some "big data" crunching. But I remain sceptical about how and when such improvments should actualy start to be seen, especially the final part of getting some actually useful info for decisions to be made from the tons of data that would be stored and processed.

 

The Internet of Things is just that, "things" attached to the internet. Security cameras, TV's, etc.. As mentioned above, the vast majority put features above security, so IoT devices are a favorite hacker target. Here is a prime example, and fascinating read:

https://www.wired.com/story/mirai-botnet-minecraft-scam-brought-down-the-internet/


And not to spoil your ToR acronym, but it has been hijacked by The Onion Router: https://www.torproject.org/

 

It's just another way for poorly implemented products to be hijacked by any script-kiddy on the planet. I mean, how many people need their refrigerator to "notice" that you are about out of milk, so it calls Whole Foods, or whoever, and they come and ENTER your house and put that gallon of milk in the refrig? The LAST thing I want is for people I don't know entering my house for ANY reason!

Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean society is served by it BEING done.

 

•••it would likely be used for some early diagnostic and failure prediction.

Something like the HAL 9000 in 2001 Space Odyssey?

Do you know how the HAL 9000 got its name? Some people think it was a shift one letter to the left from IBM. But supposedly it comes from "I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic”.

(reference)

Here's a thought: The IoT is connected to our smart phones and you have an emergency and want to dial 911. What happens when the computer decides it isn't in the best interest of the computer because someone in the household has been gazing at porn? "Sorry Dave - I don't think I can do that."

 

@WBahn Gee thanks. Now you got me scared of my TV and my Amazon Firestick.