The Pros And Cons Of The Internet Of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) can be described as according to (Herold, 2015) the collection of Internet connected smart devices. Smart devices are wireless embedded devices which are capable of communicating, storing, processing, and providing useful information to human users (Bojanova, Hurlburt, & Voas, 2014). The smart devices are currently being used in creative ways to improve the lives of their users and advance society. The phrase “Internet of Things” was first coined in a 1999 MIT presentation by Kevin Ashton (Xu, 2012, p. 701). A promise of the IoT is the potential for autonomous smart devices, interacting with other devices, providing meaningful data and utility for their human users (Dlodlo, Foko, Mvelase, & Mathaba, 2012). As with generations of technology before it, the IoT may extend further than anyone can anticipate at this time. However, today generation can be considering as IT literate even in young ages. This is because the parents nowadays exposed their children with gadget since they were young.

It is this combination of object to wireless communications that brings both pros and cons. As Atzori et al. (2010) mentioned the dual nature of the term has led to multiple views on the use of the technology. Some have viewed the technology from the network perspective, others from the object perspective, yet others seek a semantic based understanding, seeking to apply domain specific context to the technology. All viewpoints may be correct as Dlodlo et al. (2012) put that, the IoT will enable the autonomous interaction of those network connected objects, forming semantic meaning, without human interaction. As one can see by the varying points of view, the meaning of the IoT is evolving and