Back when the Internet was still called the Information Superhighway

The Internet brought information to our fingertips. It gave us the world’s knowledge at the stroke of a few keys through sites like Google or Wikipedia. It allowed for instant communication to people around the world via email and then instant messaging. The internet connects friends new and old through Facebook. Twitter allowed us to gain vast audiences of strangers through short broadcasted updates.

For many years the internet was primarily a sedentary endeavor. We sat at our desktop computers and did our internet thing. The mobile phone and especially the smart phone allowed for the extension of the internet out into public spaces. It moved computing from home, school, and business offices to anywhere a person can go.

The Internet Goes Mobile

Smart phones are bundles of sensors with extremely powerful processors and memory. They measure location, can record video and audio, have accelerometers for motion, and compasses for direction. They have augmented our experiences where we currently are. In a way, with smart phones in our hands, we are more than human, our senses now include those things the smartphone can do.

Now It’s Getting Feelings (er, well, Sensors)

The Internet of Things builds on this concept in a much larger way. It extends our fingertips to anywhere in the physical world, and then allows them to be anything, not just those things a smart phone can be.  

There are a few key differences between the internet experience enabled by smart phones and the Internet of Things experience. Most devices on the Internet of Things aren’t as computing intensive as smart phones. Low-power, wide area (LPWA) wireless enabled devices have batteries that last years, not hours, and are much cheaper than smart phones. They tend to be a sensor or two measuring something in physical world. They measure things like liquid flow through a pipe (think oil or water) or could be infrared beams detecting the presence or absence of something like a car or if trash in a can. These sensors then connect into a business or operational process serving internal needs, or are utilized in a customer facing product or service.

All Enabled by Out-of-the-box, LPWA Connectivity, like RPMA

The out-of-the-box, low-power, wide area connectivity that technologies like RPMA® offer, give companies the first opportunity to distribute thousands or millions of devices inexpensively and for many years. The professionally managed wireless connectivity that Ingenu™ provides allows these businesses to focus on their value proposition and not wireless infrastructure management.

Now,with RPMA® connected devices, individuals or companies can extend their proverbial senses to far beyond their direct environment. This is where the Internet of Things adds such incredible value. It replaces the need for human interaction and allows for the creation and automation of new value streams.

Attend our free webinar, How to Get Business Value from the IoT to find out how your company can take the next steps for monetizing the IoT.