Wolf Richter: Goal of Booming ‘Internet of Things’: Monitoring, Sensing, Remote Control – Factory Workers First, You Next

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Yves Smith

Society is now created for technological, rather than human requirements. And that’s where tragedy begins.--C.V. Gheorgiu, The Twenty-Fifth Hour, 1950

I first heard about what would later be called the Internet of Things in 1991 from Michael Hawley, who happened to be providing support for my NeXT computer. Hawley was then a graduate student at MIT and favorite of Nick Negroponte. (Hawley, who had also worked at NeXT, pointed out that having him do my tech support was tantamount to having Steve Jobs on deck). He later became a professor in the MIT Media Lab

In addition to showing me the coolness of networks (like accessing files on remote computers, which was bleeding edge back then), he was also keen about discussing digital libraries and how his belt buckle would be able to talk to his refrigerator and why that would be useful. I kept quiet about my reservations about my objects having private conversations about me. In 1999, Hawley co-founded Things That Think, “a groundbreaking research program that explores the limitless ways digital media will infuse everyday objects.” The Internet of Things program draws much of its inspiration from the Things That Think initiative.