The IoT - is it the real thing?

The IoT - is it the real thing? Article by Peter Cochrane UNTIL recently the hottest topic was Big Data, now it appears to be the Internet of Things (IoT). Media driven hype, speculation, optimism, pessimism, and wild projections seem to rule. So, is there an actual need and a real IoT market? Will it all operate over 5G? And will we run out of wireless spectrum when we have more than 50 billion things on line? The answers have to be YES, NO and NO, and here are the reasons why. The IoT is fundamental to realising sustainable societies. Continually polishing and improving our old industries and technologies with inefficient reuse, repurposing and recycling is not enough. That just puts off the ultimate day of reckoning. We have to drastically reduce material and energy use while eradicating much of the distribution, supply and support costs.