In this modern era, it is overwhelming to see how technology has advanced over the decades & still rapidly growing. From the invention of the wheel that made it possible to travel or deliver things from one destination to another, the light bulbs that illuminated homes in darkness, and the computers by which one store, share & represent data in astonishing ways. All these advances result in massive changes in how people act & interact.
Now, with the Internet connecting one device to another, helping in sharing data from one part of the world to another, it has revolutionised the ways of interaction of one being to another by making it more convenient and less time-consuming.
From linked home hubs, intelligent lighting systems in houses, thermostats, remote door locks, app-controlled appliances & much more. They all have sensors or software that make it possible to operate them from another device or share their stats(data) to another via Bluetooth or over the Internet.
All this is made possible due to the Internet of things (IoT), which means connecting a device or group of devices with another over a communicating network.
Think about a scenario you wake at 5 A.M. with your alarm clock going on with some pop song/any devotional melody you set with your smartphone or your smart band/watch vibrating to wake you up. You can even check your sleeping schedule on your bar/watch how much time it took you to fall asleep, how many times you woke up at night, and even you can monitor your pulse rate while you are sleeping. Then you check your smartphone, which shows emails and other information like the weather.
You can even easily control your house heating/cooling system, lights, and other appliances while at work. Suppose you visit a store & buy some packed food. You can gather all its information regarding its nutritional content and manufacturing/expiry date by scanning its QR code with a suitable scanner app.
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IoT has impacted our lives in a positive as well as negative manner. Let’s see some of its impacts-
Positive Impacts
Ease of access, convenience and comfortable
Its most tremendous significance is that when devices or objects connect with others to perform tasks that you want and disconnect/switch off when you want them by simply giving commands or pressing a button, it brings convenience to the table. You don’t have to travel more from one room to another to switch on/off an appliance. With intelligent lighting systems, you turn lights on/off and check their status, whether you forget to turn them off without even going near the lights. You can control your intelligent doors and even get alarmed in case of any intrusion detected while you are not in your town.
A thermostat can adapt itself to your ways of usage by simply calculating from your use stats how many degrees of temperature you are favourable to and what time you like it; on these bases,, it can adjust your required temperature while you are on your way home from work.
Smart glasses are another example that automatically adjusts to the amount of light entering your eyes on a timely basis. Making you comfortable to look around during the day and at night.
Application Automation
With IoT running, we need to rely less on humans to do everything as it is automated, saving a lot of time and effort. App developers all over the globe are making significant efforts on automation using IoT. Due to this, you can keep check of the automation of certain items on your device, giving you freedom and more control over things.
Numerous mobile app developers worldwide are working on ways to improve the IoT, as the potential for this technology is limitless. This tech will add quality to human lives and increase businesses’ chances of success.
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Money and resource management
IoT saves a lot of money for people and their firms. If you leave your appliances/lights on and gates open, the sensors will automatically send the data to the system judging by your presence that is not around & close all of them. Hence, saving money and resources.
Similarly, if you leave your car without locking it, the sensors in it,, after some time,, will send a signal to the system and will close the doors.
It reduces the cost of labour to count stock stored in malls/shops as nowadays, every lot is fitted with some chip that automatically updates the quantity of stock whenever a change is made.
IoT in the healthcare department
In this era, we have devices available to check for diabetes. With intelligent app automation, people can monitor their pulse rate while running or doing physical work. They can track their calorie intake & sleeping patterns. They can check their BMI on their smartphone to check whether they are under/overweight.
They can even share this report with a doctor or family member when needed. Similarly, a doctor can send someone messages via the Internet and prescribe medicines, which you can order from apps nowadays.
Negative Impacts
The way of interacting with others is altered. The more IoT, the lesser we need to rely on others. Society is absorbed in its digital life and has forgotten to interact with nature. Some people don’t like it tThe more we use their release it when it rains.
Security and privacy issues
Even though the IoT is rapidly advanced, it’s also much easier to hack these devices, which is a matter of concern. Social media lets anyone know about others’ personal life simply by observing what someone is posting, in which school/college they study, which place they visit hangout & with whom. Age-restricted content is easily accessible if you don’t have a security surveillance system,m someone might hack into that and track your activities. If you don’t pay attention,n someone can gather information about you through your devices.
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Too much comfort and automation
With the comfort of IoT, you can access anything from one place in your house,e, appliances, doors, cars,s, or you can order something. SSomeoneause health problems.
If you ignore devices that could automate if you don’t pay attention to your w, it helps reduce workload and cost, but many people lose their livelihood.
Conclusion
IoT is helping to improve our lives by automating transportation, healthcare, education, information gathering, communication, and so on. We have to take serious security measures over it as the way it similarly helps users can harm us. We shouldn’t rely too much on technology and sit idle as that would give it more control over our lives. To make the best use of it, we should first educate ourselves about it to prevent any security/privacy-related problems & to make the best use of it.
