The concept has been around for well over a decade, but now that the enabling technologies have become more ubiquitous, the idea of creating an Internet of Things for varied applications is gathering broad interest.
Proof of this can be seen in interest in the topic from NewsWorks, WHYY’s online news service and radio program. NewsWorks is the online home of WHYY News and its network of journalism partners. This public media service covers the Philadelphia region, Delaware and South Jersey, with a focus on regional issues, neighborhoods, health and science, and arts.
WHYY reporter Elizabeth Fiedler interviewed me about the Internet of Things with the goal of explaining the concept to a general interest audience, exploring the possibilities of its being put to use on a large scale, and considering its potential downside.
Considering that my research on the topic has principally been focused on the application of the Internet of Things in the manufacturing realm, most of my interview with WHYY concentrated on manufacturing examples. Those discussions may have been a bit too in depth for the NewsWorks program and its general audience, as the manufacturing examples given in my interview were only briefly paraphrased in the radio program. The more entertaining and easier-to-grasp examples, such as linking a coffee-maker to your snooze button or putting sensors on cows to determine their optimum milking times, turned out to be the quotes that actually got used on the air.
Though manufacturing may not have been front and center in WHYY’s coverage of the Internet of Things, it’s interesting to see that general media outlets are beginning to pick up on the topic. It’s also flattering that they relied on us as the principal source for information about the pertinent technologies.
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