Much has been made of the “Internet of Things”, and with good reason - the more that we are able to identify and interact with the objects in our environments the more we can see patterns in how those things interact. This is particularly interesting in the area of Domotics (Home Automation).
Lately, we’ve begun seeing a lot of new home automation products using WiFi to one degree or another. These products are also, seemingly invariably, delivered with their own iOS app. It’s obvious, right? You want to turn on the lights? Just fire up your iOS app. You want to change the setpoint on your thermostat? Just fire up our iOS app. You want to run your sprinklers? Just fire up our iOS app.
I see a problem with where this is leading: want to control your music? There’s an app for that. Want to turn off your coffee maker? There’s an app for that. So, let’s take inventory: lights, thermostat, sprinklers, music, coffee. That’s 5 different apps. Following this course, your iPhone and these apps are going to turn into the 21st century version of having 5 remotes on your coffee table, one for your amplifier, one for your TV, one for your VCR, one for your DVD, one for your Cable box.
People will eventually find it impractical to search for the right app to do what they need. Further complicating this scenario is the fact that many of the hardware makers are completely ignoring the need to provide an API which would allow their hardware to be integrated into a larger “system”. Out of 5 different WiFi-based devices I randomly selected, only 2 provide an actual API (others were reverse engineered which I don’t believe is a dependable solution).
Another issue with current approaches is that they seem to be paired with another concept: “the cloud”. The cloud refers to the ability of these devices to talk to some cloud-based service to deliver at least part of the functionality of the product. It’s a great marketing buzzword that will definitely attract some technical customers and, perhaps more importantly, media and potential investors.
Here again, though, we have a problem: if the company doesn’t provide access directly to the hardware from other systems, and the device is dependent on a “cloud” service existing, what happens when the network connection goes down? When the company’s service provider has a problem? When the company goes out of business (or exits the device business)? You now have expensive paperweights that hopefully can be hacked to continue functioning. When I asked the Product Manager for one of these products this question, the response was "most routers provide 3G network connectivity backup so the network should always be available". And perhaps the most scary part was that she was totally serious.
So, let’s recap the issues as I see them:
- single-purpose control UI - one app per hardware type
- no API for integration into larger systems
- dependence on a “cloud-based” service
I’m calling these collective issues “The Cloudiness of Things”. I believe that many of these vendors aren't seeing the larger picture because they're focused on immediate profit. Understandable - everyone has to make a living. However, "The Internet of Things" doesn't stop at identifying the things in our environment and directly controlling them, I believe it also means the ability for those things to interact in useful ways. Taking a vertical approach to design without giving any thought to interactivity with other components is a short-sighted view. I feel it's our responsibility to help educate both manufacturers and consumers.