A year ago, when I started the Internet of Shit account on Twitter, I did it as a personal joke: I was hearing a lot about smart devices connected to the internet, but they all seemed like very stupid ideas.
Lately, however, we see a bunch of devices flooding the market without a specific purpose, at least as far as one can tell. At first I was joking about these things, but the situation is much worse than I initially suspected.
I’m talking about devices like the ridiculous $700 wifi juicer, the smart egg controller, the water recorder for cats, or a strange bluetooth umbrella.
Many IoT devices claim to improve your life, but the goal is only one: to monetize the boredom that until recently did not occupy even the slightest attention of businesses of every scale.
Ten years ago, if you told someone that they could make millions from a specific coffee machine that only takes one type of coffee capsule, which is actually produced by the machine’s manufacturer, they would probably laugh at you – but then Nespresso came along and swept the home coffee market.
Now the same thing is happening with the devices in your daily life, but in a more threatening, covert way. Companies want to connect your entire home to the internet in order to collect more data about you.
The opportunities are tremendous for internet companies: now a software company can know how warm your house is, which hours of the day are noisiest, whether you have a pet, when you turn on your lights, or if you like to listen to music while having sex.
Smart devices are sold as a way to improve your life—and in various ways they do so to some extent—but these devices are also incredible data treasures and can ultimately evolve into money-making machines by selling subscription services.
The problem with the internet of things is that hardware is only one side of the equation. Manufacturers must maintain the servers that support the devices, keep the software updated, ensure security, and yes, pay employees.
This ultimately costs more than simply selling you a device, and this can happen perhaps in less than the first twelve months you use it. This model is not sustainable and no IoT company has found anything better yet.
If Nest1 for example wanted to increase its profits, it could sell your home-related data to advertisers. Too cold? Amazon ads for blankets. Too hot? An advertising banner for air conditioners. High humidity? Dehumidifiers on your Facebook page.
To be clear, this isn’t happening now, but Nest already exchanges “anonymous” data with its “partners” and Google happens to already be in this business, showing you targeted ads. It’s not happening, but it’s something that will emerge.
Long-term, this will definitely happen with the majority of IoT devices – after the necessary clarification when everyone realizes it’s completely unlikely to make money from cups that connect to the internet.
As the market fills up and sales of internet-connected devices reach their peak, you can bet that everyone, from the smallest to the largest seller, will look to the next stage: the accumulated treasure trove of everything they know about you.
Many of the latest IoT devices are household types, the kind you don’t replace even within a decade. We’re talking about thermostats, refrigerators, washing machines, kettles, televisions, or lamps – there’s no other sustainable path for manufacturers of these devices in the long term.
There is an alternative path that some might follow: perhaps nest needs to increase its revenue, so it decides to charge you a monthly subscription for using its thermostat. So you would have to pay $5 per month or otherwise the device will lock.
The question then, if you pay this subscription, is: are you willing to pay a subscription for anything inside your home?
Perhaps, if the device comes free, with a subscription, and the company guarantees that your personal data will be protected. But I suspect that many people would prefer to pay for the device once and fully own it and simply not care about the risk to their privacy.
A future where your most personal data is sold to the highest bidder is not a dystopia. It is already happening.
Take for example this excerpt from an AdAge article, with the statement of a refrigerator manufacturer that connects to the network:
“We are trying to understand how we can influence our consumers’ lives in a meaningful way,” says Mr. Andrews. “It was interesting to see what people do with our products – such as what time they buy things and how often – it’s a wealth of knowledge.”
“I think we’ll see companies move into this field as a new source of revenue,” he added. “We didn’t initially build a refrigerator to make a ton of money, but in a year or two, it will generate significant revenue, definitely.”
Even Nest came to this realization. Its founder, Tony Fadell, told Forbes in 2014 that “we have increasingly more revenue from services, simply because our thermostat sits on a wall for a decade.”
Yes, we understand – because your data has lasting value, since this thing stands on your wall and watches you silently without you knowing it.
I already have many such devices: a Tado thermostat, Sonos speakers, and Hue lamps. I acquired them without fully realizing what was happening.
Just like you, I was lured in by the advertising allure, like that of Nest, which promises that it “never stops learning” in order to make the heating in your home better.
When you have to choose between this and the boring old way, almost everyone thinks: “You mean I’ll never have to mess with buttons and settings again? I’m in!”
But what do we lose this way? Where do our data go? Who really owns and controls our devices in this shiny new future?
So before you get carried away by “smart” devices, think about this: none of us knows the answer because they simply don’t tell us. It’s better (for them) if we don’t know.
- One of the most successful companies in the field of “smart” devices in the US; its bestseller is a “smart thermostat”. In 2014 it was acquired by Google for 3.2 billion dollars. Google’s interest had nothing to do with thermostats, but with the utilization of home information collected by Nest through its devices. ↩︎