IoT is the new plastic
Had you noticed that marketing for the Internet of Things is about seventy years old?
To see it, you only have to compare this chart from 2016, which shows how “the number of connected devices will exceed 50 billion by 2050, filling all conceivable spheres of life and society:
<u><em><strong>CAPTION:</strong>
<a href="https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/technology/artifficial-intelligence/the-last-mile-of-iot-artificial-intelligence-ai/" target="_blank">FIVE connected devices for every living human being (source: OpenMind)</a>
</em></u>
with this 1949 advertising for “plastic that improves EVERYTHING”:
<u><em><strong>CAPTION:</strong>
<a href="http://danismm.tumblr.com/post/174475227219/plastics-1949" target="_blank">Plastics: improving EVERYTHING since 1949 (source: Danismm)</a>
</em></u>
and with this other SIXTY years old “smart home” ad.
The current narrative for the Internet of Things is the same used for plastic, with the same intended effects on popular culture. Plus, eventually, the same monopolizing effects on the economy if we do not adopt really open IoT standards quickly. And surely the same environmental effects of plastic: these ones.
Who writes this, why, and how to help
I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
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