Internet-connected everything. Image: Shutterstock
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The experts Pew polled suggested that most cars, roadways, buildings, and other important infrastructure will automatically report their “state of wear and tear and provide alerts when repairs or upgrades are needed,” paper towel dispensers in restaurants will automatically alert a manager when they need to be refilled, most appliances will be able to be controlled remotely, and wearable and implantable health devices will become the norm, not the exception. You get the gist.Of course, we’ve seen a backlash to things like Google Glass, which threaten to make connectivity so ever-present that people don’t seem to be willing to wear it (though, some people absolutely love it), not to mention that securing the internet of things seems to be a near-impossible task.Though most of the experts—mostly college researchers, entrepreneurs, and authors—believe that this is coming and will benefit society, not everyone is so sure. Some believe that, with smartphones, laptops, tablets, and connected TVs, we already have the internet in far too many places.“I’ve never been quite clear on where the demand is supposedly coming from. The scarce resource will continue to be human attention,” Karl Fogel, of Open Tech Strategies consulting firm, said. “There is a limit to the usefulness of devices that are worn in public but that demand attention because it is often socially and practically unacceptable to give those devices enough attention to make them worth the trouble of configuring and interacting with.”In any case, the cost, size, and power demands of connecting to the internet are continuing to fall, so, if people show they want it, it’s going to happen. And there’ll be enough internet-connected things to outnumber us by a wide margin."The scarce resource will continue to be human attention."