CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1 - 8

trillion in IoT-related revenues, according
to IDC.
As we have seen many times before,
however, promising technologies stay at
the promising stage for a long time if more
attention is paid to the technology than to the
experience of the people using it. Chancellor
Angela Merkel reminded the audience at the
opening ceremony at CeBIT that technology
should be centered on human beings.
Products must adapt to individuals, and not
require people to adapt to them, she said.
This is certainly not where the IoT is right
now. "I look today at some of the work being
done around the Internet of Things and it's
kind of tragically pathetic," MIT Media Lab
cofounder Nicholas Negroponte observed
at a recent TED event in Vancouver. Call
it the Principle of Great Expectations: the
higher the expectations, the greater is the
likelihood of a rapid proliferation of products
that are "tragically pathetic." Products are
often developed simply because certain
technologies have become available, without
a lot of thought given to why users need them
or how to make them delightful to use.
Take, for example, one of today's most
successful product categories, the tablet. The
first product in this category, the GRiDPad,
was introduced in September 1989. It was

followed by other unsuccessful attempts to
crack the tablet market, including the Apple
Newton, in 1993, and the enterprise-oriented
Microsoft Tablet PC, in 2002. It wasn't until
2010, when Apple introduced the iPad, that
the tablet became a successful mainstream
product, appealing to both consumers
and enterprises.
Becky Wanta, the CEO and President of
RSW1C Consulting, has encountered many
times in her career the disconnect between
invention and successful products. Having
worked as CTO or CIO (and sometimes both)
for MGM Resorts International, Best Buy,
PepsiCo, and Wells Fargo, she is familiar
with the seductive allure of technology for
technology's sake. "You've got to understand
that what you are building has a market
at the end of the day. Inventors are so in
love with their new shiny nickel, they think
everybody wants to buy a new shining nickel,"
says Wanta.
Nowhere is this attitude more evident
than in wearables, the hottest segment of the
Internet of Things.

The number of possible Internet addresses the
new Internet IPv6 protocol will be able to provide

340,282,920,938,463,463,
374,607,431,768,211,456
CTO Straight Talk | 08
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 1
