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?