Discussion on:

Will the Internet of Things be the end of cloud computing?

Why do you guys always try to frame things as either/or?
There is absolutely no basis for the argument that my fridge talking to my grocery store will lmpact my use of cloud computing.
Try being balanced for a change instead of trying to spark flame wars by pitting two concepts against each other.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little tired of the doomsday talk. It appears to me that tech writers view the future with suspicion, distrust and fear. They cannot look at the normal development and evolution of ideas and systems without quaking in their boots. Maybe they're afraid they'll lose their jobs when it becomes clear that their little minds are not capable of keeping up with the rest of the world. I welcome the changes coming, but don't see it threatening the Internet as we know it any time soon.

Actually I do see a potential problem.

Making the Internet so tied into Normal Life leaves us all exposed to potential problems when things go wrong. As things stand today how many people pick up the phone at the shops ring home to find out what they need to buy?

Yes it's convenient but way too often convenience brings it's own problems of removing the need to Think or shock horror write it in a List of things to buy.

When your local Fencing Contractor digs a post hole and tears up the Optical Fibre Cable taking the Network down in the area no one will get anything and they'll be running to stand in line to sue because they didn't have any cold water in their fridges.

Then there is the whole Talking Toaster thing where it is constantly trying to force Toast down your thought because that is what it does and when its not being used it can not comprehend why it exists.

Col

Well, yes, there's that, especially the Talking Toaster, which is a little scary come to think about it. I already resent all the beeping and stuff that comes at me all day long. I remember a move called Dark Star in which one of the planet busters went coo-coo crazy and had to be talked out of detonating on board. The human had to convince the bomb of its nonexistence by teaching it a branch of philosophy. It was LOL funny, but kind of serious too.

They have a huge central computer that becomes self aware, and it becomes friendly with the freeborn rebels in the moon penal colony. However, everything in the Warden's complex is connected to the computer. At one point the computer even back-flushes the Warden's toilets. Messy if in use at the time.

It very much reminds me of a Blocked Toilet on a QUANTAS Plane. The Pilot insisted that the Tech blow out the loo on the opposite side to clear the blockage so the plane could return to service immediately.

While the Pilot was supervising at the Blocked end the apprentice blew out the other loo and covered the Pilot and everything on that side of the aircraft with the waste matter that was causing the blockage and a lot of the contents of the Sullage Tank.

Needless to say the Pilot didn't take the plane back to service and needed a change of clothes. Took about 3 weeks to clean the plane out and the smell to go away.

Col

Technology is cyclical just like business, the economy and the weather. The centralized/de-centralized technology cycle has been going on since the first "data processors". The move to the cloud was often touted as a return to "centralized computing". It should come as no surprise that there is already a decentralized computing model on the horizon. I'm not convinced "The Internet of Things" is necessarily it, but it is only a matter of time before the entire technological world returns to a decentralized model (after which another "centralized" model will eventually take its place).

Since any society places value on what it's doing... it's that simple.

Still, we don't place value on recycling or cleanup and then whine incessantly about pollution (the leading cause of the arguable concept called "climate change")...

wonder what the hell happened to the bandwidth and why the Internet is do damn slow.

I can understand having electrical and electronic devices with a small processor and an IP address capability, but they should be for internal household network use only so they can be easily controlled from a central point. As such the fridge could be used to note what's wanted as the day goes on and at the end of the week it's sent to the main computer for review and email to the grocery story (if you want to shop that way). But none of these devices should talk direct to the Internet.

After all cloud computing has barely started.
....

Sheesh

Cloud computing is accessible virtualized processing using unnamed hardware resources with a fixed client. As professional infrastructure designers, we have over the last 32 years added layers upon layers of interfaces, communication layers and processing layers always with the goal to isolate the end user from being tied (configured) to specific hardware and software. Why, to make operation of computing resources easier, faster and more reliable.
When I started we had to learn BAL (basic assembler language) to make (program) a computer process information. Then we added JCL (Job Control Language) to group programs together. Then we invented COBOL, Fortran and other "languages" which were layered on BAL and so on. We added communication layers, dasd control layers (hard and soft), USB, IPv4, SNMP, SMTP etc... All just layers of what I call the infrastructure pyramid. Each layer built upon the last. The only difference is that this pyramid will never be completed because the base layers continue to grow as we add new functions and uses for the infrastructure to process thus providing the impetus to make it easier and more affordable to use.
Cloud computing as it exists today will change but not end. Virtualization of computing resources will just be pushed down a layer in the pyramid being replaced by a new command and control layer to mitigate the impact of the influx of devices onto the global network. Change is a constant, how we deal with change are the variables.

We will be a thing connected to the internet too: http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Here-s-What-Futurist-Ray-Kurzweil-Thinks-Life-4048001.php

It's his toaster calling to complain that his refrigerator ordered the wrong size poptart. Then his dishwasher gets on the line bitching about his not scraphing the plates clean before he loads her; and can he please get a different flavor dishwasher soap? Finally, his Roomba2020 comes on and says that he's tired of cleaning up after his cat; he's quitting and going to work for the lady down the street.

The mainframe did not disappear when the PC arrived. The PC did not disappear when the cloud arrived. The mobile device is not dumb but another "thing".

that if anything, the "Internet of things" would lead to an increase in cloud computing. The more devices we've got connected, the more need we will have for a neutral storage space.

At some point all these little computers that don't do much right now, like mp3 players and cell phones and dvd players in cars, will be hooked up to the web and not only host media or act as internet hubs but will be part of a greater cloud computer potentially unlimited in size and scope, except for the limits of mankind's development in space and time. One could have all their little devices networked in a shared computing environment, like the hurd is supposed to be, and open their system to use by the outside world, for a fee, of course, or perhaps a discount at amazon/starbucks/apple.

I have been searching for various comments on the 'thingternet' and I agree, things will certainly change! There are some good examples here also some pointers as to how to gear up. http://www.cxounplugged.com/2012/12/the_internet_of_things/

First, the cloud is essential for the Internet of things. Things are still "ours" and identity will be in the cloud for accessibility and ease of integration.
Second, the biggest barrier to the Internet of things is mobile carriers. House-bound objects are modestly interesting, but with few exceptions like Nest, they are trivial or banal. However, connecting things to the Internet wirelessly outside the home (your vehicle, children, keys!) is super-interesting. Unfortunately, the carriers are years behind in allowing unlimited devices on an account or easily integrating.

I have a mobile antenna and transmitter/receiver in my Nissan Leaf (for CarWings), however it is useless to me. Why isn't my car a wireless device on my account?