The Internet of Things

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge

by Samuel Greengard

We turn on the lights in our house from a desk in an office miles away. Our refrigerator alerts us to buy milk on the way home. A package of cookies on the supermarket shelf suggests that we buy it, based on past purchases. The cookies themselves are on the shelf because of a "smart" supply chain. When we get home, the thermostat has already adjusted the temperature so that it's toasty or bracing, whichever we prefer. This is the Internet of Things -- a networked world of connected devices, objects, and people. In this book, Samuel Greengard offers a guided tour through this emerging world and how it will change the way we live and work.Greengard explains that the Internet of Things (IoT) is still in its early stages. Smart phones, cloud computing, RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology, sensors, and miniaturization are converging to make possible a new generation of embedded and immersive technology. Greengard traces the origins of the IoT from the early days of personal computers and the Internet and examines how it creates the conceptual and practical framework for a connected world. He explores the industrial Internet and machine-to-machine communication, the basis for smart manufacturing and end-to-end supply chain visibility; the growing array of smart consumer devices and services -- from Fitbit fitness wristbands to mobile apps for banking; the practical and technical challenges of building the IoT; and the risks of a connected world, including a widening digital divide and threats to privacy and security. Finally, he considers the long-term impact of the IoT on society, narrating an eye-opening "Day in the Life" of IoT connections circa 2025.

Genres: Technology, Nonfiction, Science, Business, Computer Science, Internet, Design

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2015

Reviews

[Algirdas Raščius · Rating 2 out of 5]

All meaningful content of this book could easily fit in a magazine article. To make a book out of it author repeats the same ideas multiple times and adds a lot of simple examples of how we use IoT today and might use it tomorrow.
Too much text, too little new ideas.

[รพีพัฒน์ อิงคสิทธิ์ · Rating 3 out of 5]

รายละเอียดเยอะในส่วนที่ไม่ควรจะเยอะ รู้สึกเหมือนสามารถตัดทอนให้สั้นและน่าอ่านได้มากกว่านี้

บทบรรยาย IoT กลายเป็นเรื่องน่าเบื่อ เพราะดันใส่รายละเอียดคสามหวือหวาของเทคโนโลยีที่สำหรับเด็กรุ่นใหม่ที่เห็นอยู่ทุกเมื่อเชื่อวันรู้สึกว่าจะอธิบายทำไมฟระ

เหมาะสำหรับผู้ไม่มี Digital Literacy เพราะเล่มนี้พื้นฐานมากๆ

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our phones and tablets, our TVs and increasingly our houses, the fitness bands so many of us wear and GPS systems we patch into when we’re lost, seeking directions or just happen to link up to a new Wi-Fi network; these and so many other things are linking with, to and around us to become the internet of things. That is to say, the internet, the thing that is letting you read this, is increasingly inanimate (except, of course it always has been) in that it is now providing a network for inanimate things to link to each other, and for the last few years we’ve been talking about, excited by and trying to make sense of this new internet (and I’m sure some of wondering how this relates to Web2.0 – remember that?). Well, this is a useful introduction to this Internet of Things (IoT), and term I cannot hear without thinking of SkyNet (a sure sign there has been too much Terminator in my life).

Greengard is up front about being a fan of the things the IoT brings his life: he opens with a story about his actions that become a kind of paean to technological networking. What I like though is that he doesn’t assume that 1) we are, or 2) that we even know what this Internet of Things is. He sets the scene really well, with a discussion of mobility, of the tools we use to connect and the place of ‘the cloud’ (which of course is nothing so ethereal but giant server warehouses) in our state of being connected. As well as not assuming we know what the internet of things might be, he also (and I welcome this) doesn’t assume that we know how we got there/here so there is a good, short and focused exploration of the development of the Internet (a story we’re used to, but here tailored to this current state of heightened connectivity) and of the development of smart technology.

Only then does he begin to explore the operation of the IoT, in our domestic lives but more especially in business with an emphasis on logistics and marketing (the current places where the IoT has direct impacts) as well as giving space to the concerns about privacy, intrusiveness, autonomy and civil liberties associated with the IoT, noting that it is hard enough for us to control our on-line world when we’re trying to run our technology let along when inanimate things are the active forces (of the IoT).

So, this is a good, up-to-date and timely entry to the MIT Essential Knowledge series that tries to strike a balance between the excitement of this new technological connectedness and worries about its implications. It seems, however, that Greengard’s engagement with and use of the IoT bleeds into the excitement for the potential the text offers rather than the concerns expressed by those who are more sceptical: that might just be my scepticism about the IoT of course……

The major problem is that things in this field are changing so fast that the usefulness of this book is likely to be time limited: if you’re reading this after late 2016, there may well be a new edition needed, but even so this is worth a look for a quick introduction to what may well be shaping up to be a major public policy and socio-cultural as well as commercial issue. It is probably worth 3½ stars and I’m just being churlish……

[Erika Gianni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book felt like a laundry list of potential future designs rather than 'essential knowledge' about IOT. Unfortunately, this book provided far too little useful content and could have easily been a much shorter book. I would have liked to learn more about how devices are pieced together today, the challenges, the risks, and the ethical concerns. This book only touched on these topics very lightly, in fact, I don't even remember the topic of ethics being discussed at all.

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn’t call myself a techie as I just about get by but this is an area that interests me, and for some time I’ve been meaning to get better acquainted with ‘internet of things’, so when I came across this one by Samuel Greengard that time had come now.

I like how Samuel Greengard makes a really really complicated subject easy to follow, so I found this to be really interesting read.

I also liked how this book gave an overview of the history of this tech’s development, followed by how it stands currently and where it may lead to.

Overall, it painted a very very positive picture (focusing on saving humans time and making processes more efficient) whilst (very slightly) touching on some concerns, two being what do humans to with everything being automated and how this tech will widen the gap between the haves and haves not.

This is a short read, my ePub is 230 pages, although I came away with a better understanding of this tech, it’s not the right book to weigh up the pros and cons of this future.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is from a few years ago and hasn't aged well. Many of the things that are discussed as up and coming are ho hum today, like RFID tags on everything or network connections in cars and major appliances. We still don't have IOT refrigerators that tell us which foods to throw out and that order new items automatically when we are running low, but I was never so sure that was something that I needed anyway.

My main takeaway from this book was the realization that IOT isn't some vague thing that may happen in the future. It's already here. We are already living it. And it is becoming more and more embedded in our lives every day. Fortunately most of the feared risks of IOT have so far been relatively minor, no hacking of self driving cars or internet connected medical devices to intentionally cause deaths. It's true that we have had some loss of privacy, but hey, just unplug Alexa, the smart thermostat and the Ring doorbell. Then you only have to worry about your phone and your laptop and your car snooping on you.

[Kin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ฮือออ ไม่ว้าวเลยยย ทำไมอ่านแล้วน่าเบื่อแบบนี้ T^T

[Dasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Besides the constant typos in the text, the thing that bothered me the most about this book is how incredibly optimistic and pro-technology the author is. As if to please me (a person critical of technological innovation), the author added one chapter towards the end "criticizing IoT", which in reality just touched upon the vaguest of problems.
Overall, if you know nothing about IoT and you have short term memory loss, so you're looking for a book that repeats the same ideas and examples over 200 pages - this one's for you!

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book put into words what many of us take for granted/conceptualize mentally. It is an important look at how technology is shaping us and the potential impact it may have on our future. Some of the topics were drawn out and it took a little too long to get to the point, and there were some bad spelling/grammar errors. Overall, this book was a valuable read, if tedious at some points.

[João Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about technology

Really good book about how technology is likely to change our lives. However, I was expecting more insights over the technical background of IoT with discussion around the challenges of M2M communications and protocols (e.g. OPC-UA)

[Hannah L M · Rating 4 out of 5]

it taught me technology things

[Bob Wallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this audiobook as I will be starting a Master's class on IT for Manufacturing in a couple weeks and I really had no idea what Iot, Internet of things, was.  The required text was not available on Audible.


I think the author did a good job of giving a basic explanation of what the Internet of Things is. This book is not very technical and includes several examples of internet technologies that are available today, and technologies that are yet to come. The author does a good job of laying out both the pros and the cons associated with the expansion of the Internet of things.  He does a good job of providing scenarios that are reality today and what the future may look like in 2025.


I think in general this was an excellent introductory book on the subject. The audible version is very quick and easy to listen listen to.

On a side note....Who knew the Jetson's cartoon I loved as a kid would actually become a reality! Guess I should find a sproket company to work for!

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s coming

A glossy mostly optimistic overview of the up and coming internet of things. Fairly light weight. Think of it as the ‘executive summary’. Worth a quick read if you are not familiar with the changes and their potential impact. The optimism is duly muted by some considerations of security issues and increased openings to criminal activities. But like it or not it’s rapidly arriving.
Some of the potential perils of smart objects highly interconnected are well chronicled in Red Dwarf. In the ongoing saga of Dave Lister’s fractured and acrid relationship with his uppity, demanding and quite obnoxious smart toaster. Anybody for some toast. Oh come on, have some toast.

[Mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is for complete newbies who never heard about IoT.
An author often sound like "look, I know words mobile, connectivity, health tracker; I can combine them this way, that way and the other way." The book could be five times smaller, and it wouldn't lose meaning at all.
And also it's about consumer IoT only, no real b2b examples, manufacture etc.
I'm really disappointed. I expected from MIT Press more.

[River · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting a lot more from this short primer on the Internet of Things. Instead of being a relatively objective introduction, it read like a blog article written by an someone entirely caught up in Internet triumphalism. There was relatively little critical engagement of the subject and the discussion was very thin and flat.

[TarasProkopyuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Довольно хорошая книга о новых вызовах и о картине будущего в мире под понятием "Интернет вещей", в котором мы уже на ранних стадиях живем и какие масштабные перемены не только для ИТ компаний, бизнеса в целом, а и для всего человечества произойдут, и главное, как адаптироваться и как в нем жить, что это за мир, сложный ли, полезный и чего ожидать от него?

[Morsidi Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very interested in the Internet of Things and saw the very prestigious MIT Press on the front. The book was quite simple and easy to understand. It was also quite straight forward. I found out it was also repetitive not just in repeating ideas, but it had an entire paragraph that appeared word for word in two different places in the book.

[Luke Hammond · Rating 1 out of 5]

Explained the concepts well but is incredibly repetitive to the point that it is, in some places, difficult to read. The book could have been condensed into one chapter and never really explored any new ideas for what is supposed to be a forward thinking industry.

[Mark Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good wrap up and explanation but also assumes some computer literacy. Had a few new things for me even though I do try to keep up. It is a fascinating topic which deserves a baseline like this book plus constant updates.

[Clare Trowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but only starts looking critically at the implications of the IoT in the last few pages - could have contained more analysis

[Suneeporn Owapakorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

คนที่ไม่มีความรู้เรื่อง IoT อ่านแล้วจะรู้อะไรเยอะเลย
คนที่มีความรู้เรื่อง IoT อยู่แล้ว อ่านแล้ว รู้เพิ่มขึ้น นิดเดียว

[Boon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book focus more on the overview what IoT can change the world, but not so much on how to do it. Good if you want to see a big picture of what is going to happen in the next few years ahead.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a complete waste of time, but a lot of this I already knew. The book is designed more for someone who knows nothing about IOT.

[Helene Passy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lacking useful content. There were only a few interesting pages (mostly in chapter 5 and 6). The rest is just a collection of trendy keywords, dreadfully lacking any real ambition.

[Valeriy Savarin · Rating 2 out of 5]

застаріло.

[Jeremy Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only connect
I bought this along with a few other volumes in the MIT Essential Knowledge series in an attempt to buff up (or bluff up) my understanding of contemporary technology. This one is about the way devices (which may contain sensors, processors, software and other technologies) are being connected together to exchange data and share information in a fashion which is changing how we live and work. It's an idea that's been around for a while (the book was first published in 2015, and this updated edition appeared in 2021) and this tries to give an account of the evolving digital technologies - including the blockchain distributed ledger system which helps protect data transfers from error and violation - that have come together to make these connections possible, along with a survey of its applications which have become embedded in, for example, smart phones and watches.

I found the book fairly interesting and timely (I've just started driving a car which appears to contain much of this technology, for example), but found I was becoming distracted by the way a number of things were repeated and many examples appeared to have been incorporated uncritically, and looked more like advertisements - for example, "At the forefront of this technology innovation is a company called Kinsa", which make devices called "thermal thermometers" [sic, p46]. Other topics were listed without explanation so that they looked like jargon (e.g. "the network and physical layer may incorporate IEEE 802.15.4 for personal area networks, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and Ethernet and cellular technologies such as GSM, CDMA, LTE and 5G" [p57]), and there were a few cases of the cart being put before the horse - e.g. edge computing (where data storage and processing has been moved closer to the device which generates the data) is first discussed on p80, after edge AI has been introduced on p40.

As is often the case with books of this kind, I began to wonder whether its story could have been more usefully delivered in a magazine article (and/or whether it had been assembled from a collection of articles, with insufficient attention paid to overlap or repetition). The writing looks like hackwork in places - e.g. its opening sentence is "It's incredibly easy to overlook the impact of any given technology on our world", and that paragraph ends with "This ushered in massive changes in how people act ... and interact" [p ix]. And, towards the end, we're told "For better or for worse - and it can sometimes be both simultaneously - technology adds an abstraction layer between a natural event and a person" [p209], which I don't think makes sense at all.

So: an useful exposition of an interesting topic, from which I found I was too easily distracted.

[Tim Morrissey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow…this book was actually hot garbage…Like toxic sludge level garbage…

The first half is pretty much an infomercial for various technological changes that have been and could be brought about by the IoT. Some of them are useful, the vast majority frivolous to the point of inducing brain death. The author questions none of them, nor the context for why they might come about.

The solution to why the rate of diabetes is spiking worldwide is not changes to a corrupt food and agricultural system, it is technological monitoring.

The solution to terrorism and threats from foreign nations isn’t questioning American mass militarization and our occupation of various countries, it is drone bombs and Black Mirror swarms of robo insects.

The solution to increasing rates of car accident deaths in America isn’t questioning why we are reliant on cars versus other forms of transit, it’s going full throttle into automated vehicles.

This dynamic of silicon valley delusions goes on and on, and each time I lost braincells.

The second half is a really meek attempt to tackle these ethics of technology issues that is afraid of saying the unthinkable: that the IoT is actually not a force for good, and that the producers of these technologies, most of them in Silicon Valley or Cambridge, MA, should be regulated and prevented from their clumsy innovations.

The book occasionally states fraudulent claims, such as the IoT will be good for the environment…which we know isn’t true at all. AI and NFTs alone are huge greenhouse gas emitters. Cars in general are bad for the environment. The green promises of EVs relies on batteries made with lithium and cobalt mined with child labor. It won’t matter if you have a robot to scramble your eggs if the world is on fire and kids are being forced to work and die in mines.

All around, this was a dumpster fire of self deception. I lost a lot of respect for the MIT essential knowledge series while reading this.

[Preston Kutney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly a repetitive laundry-list of IoT applications.

A couple interesting things:
- one major challenge: standardization. A common communication protocol has not yet emerged, so today a patchwork of less-than-fully-compatible technologies exist. Primary communication protocols: Z-Wave, ZigBee, Insteon.
- a second major challenge is powering the sensors and devices. Batteries may not be the answer - with a dense mesh of sensors, changing batteries, even on a very long replacement cycle, may be infeasible. Passive charging technology is being developed - magnetic induction, human motion, and passive ambient heat to generate electricity.
- RFID chips within objects has already been widely adopted. Can be active (requiring a power source) or passive, which is activated by the presence of a reader, which produces power.
- ways that business will change from IoT: dynamic pricing, usage fees rather than outright sale, more efficient manufacturing, risk reduction.

[Олекса Кулак · Rating 3 out of 5]

Автор книги журналіст. Тож по стилю написання (та і за кількістю сторінок) більше схоже на статтю в журналі ніж на книжку. Читається легко, є цифри, посилання на першоджерела, можна дізнатися про історію створення інтернету (якщо ви досі не в курсі). З плюсів це все.

На жаль, книга видана давно. Багато інформації (в тому числі і цифри) вже не актуальні. Якщо цікавитесь Big Data, інтернетом речей, сучасними технологіями та іншими подібними штуками поверхнево як я, то можете почитати. Станом на зараз (14.01.2023) нову книгу можна знайти на ОЛХ за 50 гривень. Капучино я купую дорожче. Погодьтесь, не велика плата за приємний вечір із книжечкою в руках.

Якщо цікавитесь технологіями і багато вже чого читали з цієї теми — проходьте повз. Нового нічого точно не знайдете.

[Celeste Curone Claus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samuel Greengard ofrece una introducción descriptiva de lo que es el Internet de las Cosas (IoT por sus siglas en inglés).

Para alguien sin muchos conocimientos en el tema como yo, me parece un buen libro que ofrece un paneo general de la temática y de las potencialidades futuras del IoT.
Sin embargo, lo encuentro un poco repetitivo por momentos. Se siente un tanto "estirado" y poco cohesivo en su estructura.

Destaco la selección de ejemplos y la clara explicación de cuestiones técnicas, muy amables para quién desconoce esos detalles.