Cood aernoon. 1hank you very much for lnvlung me here Loday.

1oday l wanL Lo
delve a blL lnLo Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs, whlch has been Lhe sub[ecL of a loL of
dlscusslon as a ma[or focus for lnnovauon.

l wlll sLarL by descrlblng whaL l belleve Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs ls, Lhen l wlll Lalk abouL
a couple of concepLs LhaL challenge Lhe vlslon of Lhe value of elecLronlc producLs
from consumer elecLronlcs, whlch assumes LhaL Lhe value of dlglLal producLs ls ln Lhe
Lhlng you can hold ln your hand, or whlch slLs on Lhe oor, and whlch you buy a new
one of every year. l Lhlnk LhaL's perspecuve geLs us slmpllsuc gadgeLs, buL llule acLual
lnnovauon or markeL success, and LhaL Lhe Lrue changes come from looklng aL Lhe
ecosysLem of devlces, servlces and buslness models. l'll Lhen wrap up by Lalklng
abouL where l see some opporLunlues ln Lhls space LhaL l Lhlnk aren'L gemng enough
auenuon.
0
Let me begin by telling you a bit about my background. Im a user experience
designer. I was one of the first professional Web designers. This year I am celebrating
professionally designing Web sites for 20 years. This is the navigation for a hot sauce
shopping site I designed in the spring of 1994.
1
l've also worked on Lhe user experlence deslgn of a loL of consumer elecLronlcs
producLs from companles you've probably heard of.
2
l've wrluen a couple of books based on my experlence as a deslgner. Cne ls a
cookbook of user research meLhods, and Lhe second descrlbes whaL l Lhlnk are some
of Lhe core concerns when deslgnlng neLworked compuLauonal devlces.
3
l also sLarLed a couple of companles. 1he rsL, Adapuve aLh, was prlmarlly focused
on Lhe web, and wlLh Lhe second one, 1hlngM, l goL deep lnLo developlng hardware.
4
1oday l work for A8C, Lhe famous research lab, as a prlnclpal ln lLs lnnovauon
Servlces group.
3
LeL me sLep back and say a few words abouL A8C. 1he hlsLory of A8C ls one of
seelng Lhe fuLure before lL arrlves and creaung Lechnologles LhaL Loday seem obvlous
buL aL Lhe ume was noL even vlewed as posslble.

ln Lhe 1970s and 80s xerox A8C lnvenLed Lhe baslc ecosysLem of neLworked
personal compuLers.
ln Lhe 1980s and 90s A8C lnvenLed Lhe baslc mulumedla ecosysLem, lncludlng LableL
compuLers, elnk dlsplays, neLworked dlsplays.
ln Lhe 90s and 2000s we spllL o from xerox and broadened our scope Lo lnclude
developmenL ln a number of Lechnologles LhaL are unrelaLed Lo our parenL
company's core lnLeresLs. Some of Lhe houesL Lhlngs we're worklng on Loday are
prlnLed elecLronlcs, whlch ls a non-slllcon based elecLronlcs manufacLurlng
Lechnology, and conLenL cenLered neLworklng, whlch compleLely relmaglnes Lhe
lnfrasLrucLure of Lhe lnLerneL ln a way LhaL ls slmpler, more secure and more emclenL
by several orders of magnlLude.

Cne of Lhe reasons l [olned A8C was because under one roof we have Lhe full sLack
of Lechnlcal capablllues Lo go from raw slllcon, Lhrough devlces, neLworklng sLacks,
operaung sysLems all Lhe way Lhrough blg daLa hlgh performance analyucs.
6
1he group LhaL l work for, lnnovauon Servlces, ls A8C's consulung arm. We conslder
ourselves Lo be a bouuque, hlgh quallLy research and consulung agency wlLh a unlque
seL of skllls for helplng groups gure ouL 3-3 year sLraLegy.

We use user experlence deslgn, eLhnographlc research, buslness sLraLegy, lnnovauon
poruollo managemenL, and execuuve Lralnlng Lo help companles reduce Lhe rlsk of
adopung novel Lechnologles and lncrease Lhelr chances of compeuuve success.

SlgnlcanL !apanese presence
7
A8C ls also ln many ways where Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs began. ln Lhe laLe 1980s Mark
Welser, who was Lhen Lhe C1C of A8C predlcLed LhaL [usL as malnframes-one
compuLer Lo many people-gave rlse Lo personal compuung-one compuLer per
person-Lhere would be a nexL perlod, whlch he called ublqulLous compuung, LhaL
would happen when Lhere was more Lhan one compuLer per person. 1haL's hls charL
from 20 years ago predlcung LhaL Lhe crossover would happen around 2003, whlch
was baslcally rlghL. l never knew hlm and he dled ln 1999, buL l wlsh he was around
Loday Lo glve hls LhoughLs abouL whaL's golng on Loday.
8
9
10
l wanL Lo sLarL by Lalklng abouL Moore's Law, slnce LhaL's where all conversauons
abouL Lhe lmpllcauon of dlglLal Lechnology sLarL. When people Lalk abouL Moore's
Law, lL's oen ln Lhe conLexL of maxlmum processlng power. 8uL lL's acLually
someLhlng dlerenL. lL's acLually a descrlpuon of Lhe cosL of processlng power. lL's a
model of how much more processlng power we can L lnLo a slngle chlp LhaL's prlced
aL a predlcLable prlclng polnL Lhls year Lhan we could lasL year. 1hls means LhaL lL's
noL [usL LhaL processors are gemng more powerful, lL's LhaL 8CCLSSlnC ls gemng
cheaper.

lor example, aL Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe lnLerneL era we had Lhe 486 as Lhe sLaLe of Lhe
arL and lL cosL $1300 ln Lodays dollars. lLs Lhe processor LhaL Lhe Web was bullL for
and wlLh. 1oday, you can buy LhaL same amounL of processlng power for 30 cenLs,
and lL uses only a fracuon of Lhe energy. 1haL decrease ln prlce ls Lhe same orders of
magnlLude drop as Lhe lncrease ln speed. 1hls ls noL a colncldence, because boLh are
Lhe producL of Lhe same underlylng Lechnologlcal changes.

WhaL Lhls means ln pracuce ls LhaL embeddlng powerful lnformauon processlng
Lechnology lnLo anyLhlng ls qulckly approachlng becomlng free.
1hls means LhaL because of compeuuve pressure, anyLhlng LhaL can have neLworked
lnformauon processlng embedded ln lL, wlll. Lveryday ob[ecLs wlll make sophlsucaLed
auLonomous declslons and acL uslng arblLrary lnformauon., whlch ls as deep an
lnfrasLrucLural change ln our world as elecLrlcauon, sLeam power, and mechanlcal
prlnung. Maybe lLs as blg of a deal as brlcks.
11
1he oLher domlnanL Lrend rlghL now ls of course pervaslve daLa communlcauon. 1hls
ls an lmage from 1lmo Arnall LhaL's envlslonlng how saLuraLed our envlronmenL ls
wlLh neLworks, and lL's noL even counung Lhe moblle phone neLwork. 1hls means
LhaL vlrLually any devlce, anywhere can share daLa wlLh Lhe cloud aL any ume. 1hls
means lL can oMoad funcuonallLy LhaL used Lo be local Lo Lhe cloud, whlch means
LhaL almosL all processlng, sLorage and mosL bauery llfe lssues dlsappear. lf your uny,
wlmpy devlce can Lalk Lo Lhe cloud, lL can be eecuvely as powerful as Lhe mosL
powerful compuLer on earLh.
12
13
1he lnLerneL of 1hlngs ls a really challenglng name Lo work wlLh, because Lhere are so
many denluons. 1hls ls 1lme Magazlne's lllusLrauon of Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs for
Lhelr 8esL lnvenuons of 2008" edluon. l love Lhls lllusLrauon ls because lL makes no
sense no mauer how you Lhlnk abouL lL, whlch ls acLually qulLe an accuraLe
represenLauon of how confuslng Lhe many denluons of Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs are
rlghL now.
14
1he rsL Lhlng Lo noLe ls LhaL Lhere are Lwo denluons of Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs,
whlch causes a blL of confuslon. ln Lhe orlglnal one kevln AshLon looked aL how 8llus
could aecL Lhe loglsucs lndusLry and saw an analogy Lo Lhe lnLerneL. 8llus could be
llke Lhe packeL header ln lnLerneL daLa packeLs, Lrucks were llke wlres, depoLs llke
rouLers, warehouses llke caches.

Somewhere around 2010 Lhe denluon sllpped and raLher Lhan belng an analogy
beLween shlpplng and Lhe lnLerneL, lL came Lo mean whaL Mark Welser had earller
descrlbed as ublqulLous compuung, whlch means LhaL everyday ob[ecLs as full-
edged cluzens of Lhe lnLerneL. lnsLead of belng LlkL packeLs, Lhe ob[ecLs now send
packeLs Lhemselves.

WhaL's especlally confuslng ls LhaL slnce so many of Lhe new ob[ecLs are moblle, Lhe
rsL denluon ALSC klnd of applles. When you're uslng Waze Lo gulde you around
Lramc, lL's Lreaung your car llke a daLa packeL because your phone has made your car
lnLo a neLworked compuung devlce.
13
LeL me glve you my denluon, whlch ls preuy broad. lor me Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs ls
Lhe comblnauon of dlsLrlbuLed lnformauon processlng, pervaslve wlreless neLworklng
and auLomauc ldenucauon, deployed lnexpenslvely and wldely. 1he underlylng
Lechnologles and Lhe appllcauons LhaL are Lradluonally dlscussed don'L mauer much,
because lL ls Lhls comblnauon of facLors LhaL deeply aecLs people and lndusLrles,
and lL does lL by connecung people's lmmedlaLe experlences Lo Lhe power of dlglLally
aggregaLed and analyzed lnformauon. ln oLher words, Lhe lnLerneL Lo 1hlngs Lurns
physlcal acuons lnLo knowledge ln Lhe cloud and knowledge ln Lhe cloud lnLo physlcal
acuon ln a way LhaL's never exlsLed before.
16
So, for example, l counL Lhe ledLx Sensaware smarL Lag and Lhe ?ouamark Lracklng
sysLem Lo be roughly ldenucal. 1he Sensaware Lag has a bunch of sensors, a CS and
Lhe equlvalenL of a phone ln lL. lL's used Lo Lrack hlgh value lLems, such as human
organs, LhaL need Lo be shlpped under preclsely malnLalned condluons. 1he
?ouamark sysLem uses suckers, readers and a wlred neLwork servlce Lo Lrack Lhlngs
such as produce and car parLs.
1echnologlcally Lhere's almosL no overlap, buL Lhey boLh glve people Lhe ablllLy Lo
LreaL physlcal ob[ecLs fundamenLally dlerenLly, as members of a compuLauonal
sysLem. 1hey brlng Lhe power and ldeas of Lhe lnLerneL Lo physlcal Lhlngs.
17
1he lmpllcauons of Lhls Lechnologlcal change are broad, buL Loday l wanL Lo focus on
Lhree aspecLs: how consumers' relauonshlps Lo devlces change, how developers
relauonshlps Lo Lhelr Lools change, and how companles value chalns change.
18
1he rsL Lhlng l wanL Lo Lalk abouL ls how people's relauonshlp Lo Lhelr devlces ls
changlng.
19
The core of this change is a shift from generic devices and software to specialized
devices and software. When computing was expensive, you had general purpose
devices and general purpose software that had deal with almost every situation. This
necessitated design compromises that resulted in devices and software that could do
almost everything, but did none of it well.

Now that processing is so cheap, you can have a combination of 10, 20, or 30
computing devices and apps for the price of that one device, and you can acquire new
functionality as needed. This means that every device and software package can have a
narrower purpose.
20
1he second Lrend ls LhaL much of Lhe value of compuung ls now remoLe. 1oday, mosL
people undersLand LhaL Lhe experlence you see on one devlce ls oen a parL of
someLhlng LhaL's dlsLrlbuLed LhroughouL Lhe world. 1here's no longer a need Lo pack
everyLhlng lnLo a slngle plece of soware, and Lhere's no expecLauon LhaL everyLhlng
wlll be Lhere.

loursquare as a whole doesn'L llve on your phone ln any meanlngful way, and people
know LhaL.
21
If we chart these two tends, two broad classes of digital products emerge.

lf we follow Lhe local Lo remoLe axls, we nd general-purpose devlces LhaL do roughly
Lhe same seL of Lhlngs, and dler prlmarlly ln slze. They exist to provide access to
online services, in a form factor thats appropriate to the context in which theyre used.
l call Lhese devlces Lermlnals.

lf we follow Lhe general Lo speclc axls, we see a shl ls Lo more narrow-funcuon
devlces LhaL are deslgned Lo do a small seL of things with specialized hardware. A
parking meter can take quarters, which your phone cant do, and a digital SLR has a
giant lens on it, which you probably dont want on your phone. These devices differ in
their specialized hardware. l call Lhese devlces appllances.
22
The most interesting thing, however, to me is that these shifts are part of an even larger
transition, one where devices are simultaneously specic AND deeply tied to online
services. In this model, the service provides the majority of the value, and can be
represented either as a dedicated appliance, an app running on a terminal, or anything
in between.

I call these devices service avatars. And this is where much of the Internet of Things
currently lies, at least for consumer products.
23
As value shifts to services, the devices, software applications and websites used to
access itits avatarsbecome secondary. A camera becomes a really good appliance
for taking photos for Flickr, while a TV becomes a nice Flickr display that you dont
have to log into every time, and a phone becomes a convenient way to take your Flickr
pictures on the road.

Hardware becomes simultaneously more specialized and devalued as users see
through each device to the service it represents. The hardware exists to get better
value out of the service.
24
AnoLher example ls Lhe klndle. Peres a Lelllng older ad from Amazon for Lhe klndle.
lL's saylng Look, use whaLever devlce you wanL. We donL care, as long you sLay
loyal Lo our servlce. ?ou can buy our speclallzed devlces, buL you donL have Lo.
25
AL rsL WlLhlngs was klnd of a glmmlck. ?ou can LweeL your welghL Lo your frlends!"
was one of Lhe ways lL was orlglnally plLched. 1haL's of course noL parucularly
lnLeresung, buL LhaL was noL Lhe purpose of Lhe devlce. 1he scale ls Lhe avaLar Lo
WlLhlngs' healLh servlce LhaL helps you Lrack your welghL. 1he scale orlglnally
dlerenuaLed WlLhlngs from oLher welghL Lracklng apps, buL Lhe value ls noL ln Lhe
scale, buL ln Lhe servlce, whlch you can only fully experlenced uslng oLher avaLars,
such as Lhe web slLe and Lhe phone and LableL apps.

WlLhlngs has slnce expanded Lhe servlce Lo lnclude a bunch of oLher hardware and
soware avaLars. Agaln, Lhe value ls noL ln Lhe devlces, buL ln Lhe knowledge LhaL
Lhey creaLe by collecung slmple pleces of lnformauon and Lhen provldlng users wlLh
Lhe full power of cloud-based servlces Lo make use of LhaL plece of lnformauon.
WlLhlngs can keep addlng avaLars, new sensors and new ways Lo dlsplay Lhe
lnformauon Lhe sensors collecL, wlLhouL fundamenLally changlng Lhe promlse of Lhe
servlce.

26
?ou can see Coogle's sLraLegy here, Loo. Lach of Lhese Lhlngs may be presenLed as a
producL, buL really each ls an avaLar of whaL's perhaps golng Lo be Lhe same servlce,
probably some klnd of house healLh and securlLy" servlce.
27
SmarL 1hlngs clearly sLaLes lLs servlce oerlng rlghL up fronL on Lhelr slLe. 1he rsL
Lhlng Lhey say abouL Lhelr producL llne ls noL whaL Lhe funcuonallLy ls, buL whaL eecL
Lhelr servlce wlll achleve for Lhelr cusLomers. 1helr hardware producLs' funcuonallLy,
how Lhey wlll Lechnlcally sausfy Lhe servlce promlse, ls almosL an aerLhoughL.
28
Compare LhaL Lo x10, Lhelr splrlLual predecessor LhaL's been ln Lhe buslness for more
Lhan 20 years. All LhaL x10 Lells ls you ls whaL Lhe devlces are, noL whaL Lhe servlce
wlll accompllsh for you. l don'L even know lf Lhere lS a servlce. Why should l care LhaL
Lhey have modules"? l shouldn'L, and l don'L.
29
1he nexL ma[or shl l wanL Lo Lalk abouL ls how Lhls same seL of core changes ls
changlng Lhe way LhaL people are developlng devlces.
30
Mark Andreessen sald LhaL soware ls eaung Lhe world. 8uL Lhe web ls eaung
soware, whlch means LhaL Lhe Web should be eaung Lhe world, whlch lL ls.
Speclcally for Lhls dlscusslon, lL's eaung hardware.

1here used Lo be a clear dlvlde beLween Lhe meLhods, Lools and buslness models
beLween bulldlng devlces and creaung Lhe soware and conLenL LhaL Lhey dlsplayed,
buL LhaL's qulckly erodlng. WhaL we're seelng ln lLs place ls a new approach Lo
developlng experlences LhaL ls rooLed ln Web developmenL as much as lL ls ln
Lradluonal elecLrlcal and compuLer englneerlng.
31
8aLher Lhan devlces [usL gemng fasLer and cheaper, Lhey're also gemng easler. lL's
now pracucal for a semlconducLor manufacLurer Lo noL only lnclude processlng on a
chlp dle, buL Lo lnclude a bunch of oLher funcuons LhaL used Lo be dlscreLe
componenLs: audlo and vldeo processlng, capacluve senslng, analog Lo dlglLal
converslon, uS8, eLc. Such sysLems on a chlp greaLly slmpllfy Lhe complexlLy of a chlp,
and when Lhey have a web servlce wrapped around Lhem, Lhey look llke compleLe
compuLers, raLher Lhan slngle componenLs. 1hls means LhaL a devlce ls now a small
neLwork of Web-enabled compuLers, raLher Lhan a bunch of dlscreLe componenLs.
1he 8aspberry l board exlsLs because all of lLs funcuons exlsLs on a SlnCLL
8roadcom chlp. 1hese are Lhe sLaLs for a 3 year-old Mlcrochlp SCC, whlch ls probably
down Lo $1 ln quanuLy.
32
WhaL's we're seelng ls Lhe rlse of ob[ecL orlenLed hardware, where hlgh-level
funcuonallLy ls encapsulaLed ln small devlces LhaL each run Lhelr own neLwork sLack,
and Lhelr own Web server, usually Lhrough node.[s.

uevlces such as Spark Core, LlecLrlc lmp, Marvell's klnoma, or lnLel's Ldlson and
Calllleo processors are noL [usL a new generauon of embedded processors, buL Lhey
represenL a radlcally new way of Lhlnklng abouL hardware developmenL. unless
you're bulldlng an lhone, hardware developmenL ls no longer abouL opumlzlng for
every processor cycle, every mllllamphour of bauery llfe or every byLe of memory.
lL's noL abouL debugglng wlLh an oscllloscope. 1hese devlces expose Lhelr
funcuonallLy Lhrough 8LS1lul lnLerfaces. 1hey're programmed Lyplcally ln an
lnLerpreLed language llke !avascrlpL, uslng cloud-based luL's, or Lhey have enough
power LhaL Lhey run Lhelr own luLs. 1hls ls Lhe uLle sllde from Lhe presenLauon LhaL
Andy Carle, head of ux for klnoma, gave aL SkeLchlng ln Pardware Lhls year, where
he descrlbed Lhelr sysLem for dolng everyLhlng, from programmlng devlces Lo
slmulaung Lhem ln !avaScrlpL.

ln oLher words, lLs much closer Lo developlng for Lhe Web Lhan for Lradluonal
hardware.
33
.and ln facL Lhe plauorms LhaL L Lhls model, whlch are appearlng aL Lhe raLe of one
per monLh aL Lhls polnL, are dlrecLly Largeung Web developers as Lhelr audlence.
1hey're saylng LhaL maklng hardware ls noL LhaL much dlerenL Lhan maklng an app.
Cf course LhaL's noL Lrue, hardware ls much, much harder, buL LhaL's Lhe dlrecuon
Lhlngs are movlng ln.
34
llnally, l wanL Lo Lalk abouL Lhe change ln Lhe buslness sLraLegy LhaL all of Lhls enLalls.
33
Connecung everyday ob[ecLs Lo Lhe cloud lsn'L lnLeresung ln lLself. 1haL's why Lhe
naive value proposluon of many consumer elecLronlcs companles ls oen so
laughable. Any reason for you Lo be able Lo check wlLh your phone wheLher your
sLove ls on, or your garage door ls open, ls conLrlved and of Leruary value Lo
consumers, aL besL, buL LhaL's whaL we're gemng a loL of.
36
l Lhlnk LhaL Lhe blggesL change ls LhaL once you can unlquely ldenufy an ob[ecL and
auach lL Lo an onllne servlce, you can fundamenLally change Lhe ownershlp model.
?ou are no longer selllng ob[ecLs, generaung revenue ln slngle-unlL quanuues, you
are selllng servlces LhaL Lhe physlcal ob[ecLs are avaLars of. Companles ln Lhls new
model no longer sell producLs buL supply servlces, llke Lhe old phone company used
Lo, buL applled Lo everyLhlng.
37
uurable ob[ecLs are no longer owned, buL renLed. lor example, much heavy
consLrucuon equlpmenL ls noL owned by consLrucuon companles, buL renLed by Lhe
mlnuLe LhaL's lL's acLually runnlng, wlLh LhaL LelemeLry collecLed by a company LhaL
provldes Lhe consLrucuon equlpmenL servlce. lf a plece of equlpmenL breaks down,
Lhe company ls lmmedlaLely noued and Lhey send ouL a replacemenL equlpmenL.
1haL's parL of Lhe servlce, because Lhey're noL selllng a dlgger, buL Lhe servlce of
dlgglng. 1he same model ls rapldly Lrlckllng down Lo every form of heavy
LransporLauon from Zlpcar Lo ScooL Lo blke renLal.
38
Consumables become servlces. We already have Lhls ln some respecL wlLh Amazon
subscrlpuons and all of Lhe varlous 8lrchbox-llke subscrlpuon servlces, buL whaL
happens when processlng becomes cheap enough LhaL Lhese producLs can reorder
Lhemselves? Well LhaL already exlsLs for lnk[eL prlnLer lnk because lnk[eL prlnLers are
one of Lhe rsL common lnLerneL of 1hlngs devlce. lcLure Lhls servlce mapped Lo
everyLhlng LhaL you use up. 1haL's comlng.
39
WheLher Lhey're focused on conLrolllng devlces or creaung a servlce ouL of devlces, l
Lhlnk all of Lhe buslness models ln Lhls space wlll depend on Lhe quallLy of Lhelr
analyucs. under Lhe 8lg uaLa" umbrella Lhere are a number of machlne learnlng-
based analyucal approaches, buL l Lhlnk predlcuve analyucs wlll be Lhe mosL
lmporLanL. uaLa from muluple dlerenL sources wlll be used Lo anuclpaLe Lhe fuLure
sLaLe of a sysLem, lncludlng Lhe behavlor of Lhe people ln lL Lo provlde value for Lhe
subscrlbers and exLracL value for Lhe sysLem.

Pere's a recenL example of how predlcuve analyucs can fuse daLa from muluple
sources Lo creaLe novel knowledge. A graduaLe sLudenL was able Lo fuse Lhree daLa
sources: a llsL of a vehlcle's speed aL varlous umes, a map LhaL had Lyplcal speeds on
roads, and Lhe vehlcle's sLarung locauon, Lo predlcL Lhe locauon of Lhe vehlcle Lo
wlLhln a 1/3 of a mlle radlus. 1hls ls wlLhouL a CS aL all, [usL pulllng Lhe daLa o of
Lhe speedomeLer. Creaung anuclpaLory behavlors based on a predlcuve model ls of
course Lhe value proposluon of Coogle's nesL LhermosLaL, of Waze and of Lhe Canary
home securlLy sysLem.

lor me, Lhe greaLesL lnnovauon ln Lhls space wlll noL come from slmply connecung
Lhlngs Lo Lhe lnLerneL, surfaclng Lhelr funcuons as Als, or havlng Lhem Lalk Lo each
oLher. 1haL's preuy much a solved problem. 1he greaLesL lnnovauon here wlll come
from Laklng Lhe daLa LhaL such sysLems collecL, and Lhe behavlors LhaL Lhey can
express, and fuslng Lhem wlLh predlcuve analyucs Lo creaLe new servlces LhaL
anuclpaLe Lhe behavlor of people and machlnes Lo make experlences more emclenL,
more enLralnlng, and less frusLraung. ln oLher words, Lo make Lhe ob[ecLs ln Lhe
40
Cf course Lhe downsldes of Lhls klnd of cenLrallzed predlcuon are clear. 8ruce
SLerllng's recenL essay, whlch ls whaL Lhls quoLe ls Laken from, vlvldly descrlbes hls
concern LhaL Loo much of Lhe lnformauon collecLed by Lhese devlces ls belng sLored
by a small number of companles, speclcally Apple, Coogle, lacebook, Amazon and
Mlcroso. Pls very leglumaLe concern ls LhaL Lhese companles do noL have Lhe besL
lnLeresLs of Lhelr cusLomers ln mlnd ouLslde of Lhelr sLaLus as subscrlbers. lor us as
consumers, we really have Lo Lhlnk abouL how much convenlence Lhese servlces
provlde relauve Lo Lhe personal lnformauon LhaL you provlde Lhem. l recenLly
reLurned a car analyucs dongle LhaL plugged lnLo my car's daLa porL and connecLed
my car Lo a cloud-based servlce because l reallzed LhaL lL provlded me wlLh very llule
valuable lnformauon, and yeL aL Lhe same ume l was glvlng lL my car's locauon ln one
mlnuLe lncremenLs. 1haL seemed llke an asLoundlngly lopslded deal-ln exchange for
my locauon every mlnuLe all lL dld was Lell me LhaL my drlve Lo work cosL me $4.82--
so l Lurned lL o and senL lL back. 1haL's why l don'L have a nesL LhermosLaL, elLher.
unul lL can oer me someLhlng oLher Lhan a vague promlse of some savlngs on my
uullLy blll, l do noL conslder lL a worLhwhlle Lrade for lL Lo know my dally rouune.

As servlce deslgners, we have Lo be very cognlzanL of creaung servlces LhaL are noL
[usL survelllance Lools wlLh a Lhln veneer of funcuonallLy. l Lhlnk LhaL's nelLher eLhlcal
nor ls lL a susLalnable buslness model.
41
l'd llke Lo nlsh by menuonlng Lhree areas where l Lhlnk Lhere are parucularly
lnLeresung buslness and Lechnologlcal opporLunlues ln Lhe lnLerneL of 1hlngs space.
42
AlmosL all of Lhe avaLars LhaL currenLly exlsL are super-Lhln. 1hey're baslc sensors
wlLh Lhe LhlnnesL posslble layer of neLworklng and processlng around Lhem. 1hls
makes Lhem cheap and dlsposable, so you can lLeraLe on Lhelr deslgn qulckly and
mlnlmlze Lhe per-unlL cosL Lo lower Lhe barrler Lo purchase, Lhus belng able Lo
compeLe wlLh non-hardware soluuons. 1haL's greaL, buL whaL are Lhe slLuauons
where you can geL slgnlcanL advanLage by lnLroduclng compuLauon aL Lhe edge?
lnsLead of sendlng back a sLream of raw daLa LhaL's processed ln Lhe cloud, Lhen
walung for a response, for cerLaln behavlors you can acL lmmedlaLely, or reduce Lhe
amounL of Lransmlued lnformauon by orders of magnlLude. 1he challenge here ls
ldenufylng appllcauons LhaL exlsL ln an ln-beLween sLaLe beLween slLuauons where
Lhe value ls excluslvely local and Lhe Lhose where value ls excluslvely creaLed by Lhe
servlce. 8rlan uavld !ohnson of lnLel wroLe abouL 1vs LhaL do face recognluon on
every frame Lo ldenufy whaL acLors are ln whaL scenes, lndependenL of where LhaL
daLa sLream ls comlng from. 1haL sounds lnLeresung, and here's a 8aspberry l
lmplemenLauon of [usL LhaL ldea, buL l'm noL sure of Lhe buslness model. Pavlng local
compuLauon also makes Lhe hardware way more expenslve ln Lerms of cosL and
bauery usage, buL l Lhlnk lL's a rlch area for explorauon.
43
1he company LhaL solves Lhe problem of servlce dlscovery wlll be Lhe Coogle of Lhe
lo1 space. 1he lack of decenL servlce dlscovery has plagued Lhe ublcomp/M2M/lo1
space for uLCAuLS. Pow can l ldenufy whaL devlces do whaL and Lhen auLomaucally
Lalk Lo Lhem. And lL's noL for a wanL of Lrylng. 1here are a mllllon soluuons and noL a
slngle one LhaL's as easy, open and agenda-free as P1ML was. l'm a blg fan of Lwo
approaches: one ls named daLa neLworklng, whlch A8C ls worklng on. 1hlnk of lL as a
mlx of 8luorrenL and unS LhaL Lhrows ouL mosL of Lhe assumpuons of 1C/l, buL lL's
a long-Lerm beL, so l Lhlnk Lhere's a loL of opporLunlLy Lo do someLhlng sooner. Cne
oLher soluuon ls Lreaung every devlce llke a Web slLe. 1hls ls Lv8?1PnC's Web of
1hlngs" approach. ?ou [usL don'L dlerenuaLe beLween Lalklng Lo a key fob, Lalklng Lo
an oll rlg and Lalklng Lo lnLeresL. Lveryone uses Lhe same proLocols and you [usL
Leach Web dlscovery meLhods
44
lnLerneL of 1hlngs hype ls ln Lhe consumer space, buL l Lhlnk Lhere's a huge value
proposluon ls ln converung Lhe physlcal neLworks of Lhlngs LhaL buslnesses own Lo
dlglLal neLworks. 1here are a huge number of buslnesses LhaL have collecuons of
devlces and processes LhaL are essenually physlcal neLworks: all of Lhe machlnery and
process a farmer has when growlng cucumbers, Lhe washlng machlnes aL a laundry
faclllLy, Lhe complex loglsucal chaln LhaL a coee roasLery paruclpaLes ln. 1hls doesn'L
have Lo have Lhe magnlLude of CL's lndusLrlal lnLerneL vlslon, where Lhey're
collecung LerabyLes of daLa per hour from a dlsLrlbuLed sensor neL on an oll rlg. lL can
be much smaller and can, say, use predlcuve analyucs Lo Lell a dellvery company
when a car needs malnLenance before lL acLually breaks down, or lL can glve Lhe
owner of a sewlng company real-ume daLa abouL machlne uullzauon so Lhey can
declde how many people Lhey need Lo brlng ln Lomorrow.

[l pooh-poohed Lhe lnLerneL connecLed sLove, buL Lhls ls where LhaL model acLually
makes sense. Lspeclally ln buslness-crlucal or llfe-crlucal slLuauons, connecung and
monlLorlng devlce sLaLus and healLh can be hugely valuable. eople Lalk abouL
predlcuve malnLenance as one are where Lhls ls especlally valuable, and maybe LhaL's
Lhe case, buL l Lhlnk [usL knowlng whaL's happenlng where when so LhaL Lhe sysLem
as a whole can be Lweaked can be very proLable.]
43
46
1o me why we make lnLerneL of 1hlngs ls noL abouL Lhe Lhlngs, lL's noL abouL creaung
new gadgeLs, buL developlng servlces. Cur blggesL challenge as lnnovaLors, deslgners,
developers and enLrepreneurs wlll noL be addlng cheap elecLronlcs Lo everyday
ob[ecLs. 1haL's a solved problem. Cur challenge wlll be Lo undersLand how Lo use
Lhose Lhlngs Lo creaLe value, and Lo creaLe susLalned and susLalnable change, ln a
world where Lhere ls an enormous amounL of poLenual for embedded, neLworked
Lechnology, and an enormous number of paper Lhln, one noLe gadgeLs. l once heard
an lndusLrlal deslgner say LhaL everyLhlng you deslgn ls garbage from Lhe mlnuLe lL
comes o Lhe assembly llne, and LhaL lL's your responslblllLy Lo keep lL ouL of Lhe
Lrash bln for as long as posslble. l Lhlnk LhaL ln Lhe lnLerneL of Lhlngs LhaL ls especlally
Lrue and Loday l Lhlnk LhaL our blggesL challenge as lnnovaLors and faclllLaLors of
lnnovauon wlll be Lo Lhlnk abouL why we wanL Lo make Lhlngs aL all, and Lhen how
we can make Lhem provlde Lhe mosL value, for Lhe leasL cosL, for Lhe mosL people, for
Lhe longesL ume.
47
1hank you.
48