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IoT Is the Third Big Technology 'Wave' In the Last 50 Years, Says Harvard

dcblogs writes: The Internet of Things (IoT) may be more significant in reshaping the competitive landscape than the arrival of the Internet. Its productivity potential is so powerful it will deliver a new era of prosperity. That's the argument put forth by Michael Porter, an economist at the Harvard Business School and James Heppelmann, president and CEO of PTC, in a recent Harvard Business Review essay. PTC is a product design software firm that recently acquired machine-to-machine firm Axeda Corp. In the past 50 years, IT has delivered two major transformations or "waves," as the authors describe it. The first came in the 1960s and 1970s, with IT-enabled process automation, computer-aided design and manufacturing resource planning. The second was the Internet and everything it delivered. The third is IoT. That's a strikingly sweeping claim and there will no doubt be contrarians to Porter and Heppelmann's view. But what analysts are clear about is that IoT development today is at an early stage, perhaps at a point similar to 1995, the same year Amazon and eBay went online, followed by Netflix in 1997 and Google in 1998. People understood the trend at the time, but the big picture was still out of focus.

4 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Really? by sycodon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I have a TWO phrases to despise. "The Cloud" and "Internet of Things"

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    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  2. Re:What is this "IoT"? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 3, Funny

    The internet of things has toasters.

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    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  3. Re:Really? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

    I swear, every time I hear somebody says "Internet of things" I immediately want to punch them in the face.

    The good news is that you actually can punch people in the face over the Internet of things!

    (At least depending on what kinds of actuators those things have.)

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    Ezekiel 23:20
  4. Re:Really? by xaotikdesigns · · Score: 2, Funny

    When I hear "Internet of Things", I think, "Twitter Enabled Refrigerator"

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    XDInd