Lunch break in the home office. I was just about to enjoy a bratwurst for lunch today when I thought, "Let's take this up a notch. Instead of yellow mustard I'll go with the spicy, whole grain stuff!" I open the fridge door and this is what I see:
Look familiar? Trying to find the lesser used, and smaller items, is a daunting task. The mustard is probably tucked away in the back somewhere. I'm not even sure I have spicy, grainy mustard. And if I do, it may be 10-years old and taste like yuck!
Here I am, on the door hiding behind the horseradish, and boy am I way too old to be eaten:
This got me thinking: Some day soon I will no longer have this trivial but frustratingly reoccurring problem. My fridge will read the UPC labels (or perhaps telemetry devices) on every item within it and tell me if a specific item exists, what shelf it's on, and notify me when it's about to reach it's expiration date. Heck, in the world of the Internet of Things, my fridge will be able to replenish itself by ordering my groceries and having them delivered just-in-time. Of course, this will present the usual concerns regarding security and privacy but those concerns will be addressed, or we'll continue to accept redefining what our sense of privacy means.
What I also foresee is a world in which we each have a "personal cloud" of our lives. Every activity we perform, every item we consume (or produce), every decision we make, and every daily interaction we have will be recorded from a health, safety, financial, educational, social, career, etc. perspective. Our interactions with the world will be recorded so that we can ask questions, analyze our lives, and make better decisions on how we live, work, and play. For instance, I might ask the following:
- "myCloud, what cars do you recommend I considering buying next?"
- "Excuse me myCloud, How can I improve my health by changing my current diet?"
- "Dear myCloud, "Will going to graduate school improve my chances of promotion within my company? And if so, what school is best for me?"
- "Yo myCloud, Where should my family vacation next and when?"
- "myCloud, What changes can I make to lower my carbon footprint?"
Cool stuff, yes? Hopefully, you're getting an idea of the potential power of having a personal cloud; formed by your Internet-of-Things, accessible to you (and only you we hope!), allowing you to make informed decisions both trivial, "Hey, where's the grainy mustard?" and significant, "What lifestyle changes will help me live to be 120?" I suppose decision making will only be the tip of the iceberg. At some point, the personal cloud will take action for us: I'll come home one day to find my new driver-less car is waiting in the driveway because my other car was run into the ground at 170K miles, outstanding financing was offered, and I was in good financial shape (for once). Plus it came in a color both my wife and I love.
Okay enough daydreaming, back to my brat and then back to work - I need to figure out how the Internet of Things will improve Government and Education.
