App Is In The Air

With our heads down in the icons and circuit diagrams and code snippets, every now and then it is important to look at things in perspective. I have just read an article in EE|Times calling the end of the smartphone era. Junko Yoshida, the author, writes:

The value here isn't the smartphone itself, but in peripherals -- the software and hardware that run Nest. The smartphone, a mere messenger for these functions, is fast becoming a commodity.

I could not agree more. We all know the term IoT, the Internet of Things. But we barely know the meaning of it. No wonder.

Since 2010 I am in a head over heels deep relationship with IoT, yet every day in this field surprises me more. There is such incredible tide coming, hard to predict the outcome. It will wipe many existing business models and established players.

With every thing smart and connected, a phone (a smartphone of course) is becoming less and less relevant. In the best case it will be a dumb pipe to the cloud, since many smart objects simply do not have enough power to connect directly to the Internet. Human body - area network of sensors will use a phone as a gateway. Home area network of smart sensors and actors do not need a phone any more. May be as a configuration / setup / notification screen. But ultimately we will not be using a phone to start a kettle or control shades. They will either control themselves in an anticipatory fashion or react to your behavior, touch, habits, patterns, gestures, voice or even thoughts. Smart objects will take care of us and of themselves. It will be more like us immersed in a smart air environment. Like living in an app.

A smartphone has been smart inside. The apps, icons, all present in a small device, acting behind the sapphire glass. The new smart environment will be physical, surrounding us: the smart air. Physical objects will be the app icons and controls, interacting with each other. Sort of like us being immersed in a big smartphone, or a smart app environment expressed as smart objects around us. In such smart-every-thing world, who needs a phone anymore?