Another CES, another hype cycle. This year, it’s network-connected devices, which got their own interest group in the form of the Internet of Things Consortium.

Be afraid. The CES spotlight tends to reveal the absence of innovation rather than the next big thing. Last year, we had the year of the ultrabook. But it wasn’t. PC sales declined 7% in 2012, according to IDC. Before that, it was the year of the tablet, but only Apple iPads were really selling. CES 2010 brought us the year of the 3-D TV. I thought it was a bad idea at the time and now it seems others share that view.

But the Internet of Things — making objects Internet-addressable and responsive — is a better bet than 3-D TV. It’s inevitable and is already manifesting in many ways. It’s evident in traffic data aggregated from mobile phones and in the way TiVo customers can program their DVRs from the Web. It’s evident in the way Nest customers can read and alter their thermostats online. It’s the next big thing because it’s already here.

But in the rush to connect physical objects, we risk ignoring the return on investment and the cost to ourselves.
Network Computing