Those who consider the “Internet of Things” a new concept are way, way off.  Indeed, the term “Internet of Things” was proposed by Kevin Ashton in 1999, but the model long pre-dates 1999.  We’ve been talking about devices communicating for the common good as far back as the 70s.  Indeed, I addressed it in my EAI book written in the mid 90s.  However, GE subsumed recently the concept as a path for their technology.

Many love to look at the “Internet of Things” as a separate concept than cloud computing.  However, I see them linked in that the “things” are really end-points of cloud-based systems.  These “things” are phones, thermostats, industrial robots, or anything that is not a traditional computer system, but it is hooked up to a network.

Most “things” that support connectivity are able to produce and consume information that allows those “things” to bring more value to the business.  This means that they typically produce information to cloud-based systems, and use the information to make the “thing” work better.

Thus, the “Internet of Things” is really a part of the cloud computing story.  If we had not progressed so far with cloud computing the last several years, a clear map of the “Internet of Things” would not exist.