The Internet Of Things - Explained By Children

Recent years have seen increasing chatter about "The Internet Of Things", the widely-agreed next phase in the development of the internet. However, most normal people, with - y'know - lives and stuff, hear that phrase and usually respond with a resounding "huh?". Wikipedia's not much help -

"In computing, the term Internet of Things (also known as the Internet of Objects) refers to the networked interconnection of everyday objects.It is generally viewed as a self-configuring wireless network of sensors whose purpose would be to interconnect all things"

Thanks, Wikipedia.

So, for the rest of the normal world, the nice people over at Latitude went and asked a bunch of children what they thought the future of the internet should look like, and put the results into a quick and easy-to-read video (above). As tends to be the way when you ask kids things, there are some daft ideas, but overall, it paints an easy-to-understand picture of what sort of things the internet - and other household objects - will be capable of ten years from now.

You can also grab a pdf summary of the results here

Mobile Internet set to overtake Desktop access by 2014

Mary Meeker April 2010 Internet Trends

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This is a great summary from Morgan Stanley of current trends in Internet access around the world. Picking up on key learnings from the Japanese experience (anyone who's ever been to Tokyo will have goggled enviously at Japanese commuters accessing streaming video content on the Underground trains faster than we can get on our home broadband packages) it demonstrates how mobile access to the web is predicted to overtake desktop access by 2014.

Driven by Apple's slew of new mobile web products (iPhone, Touch, iPad) and increasing 3G penetration, the rise of social networks and VoIP the presentation shows how technological convergance is going to deliver a revolution in online content delivery.

Some of the key points:

Mobile Internet is growing at a faster pace than desktop consumption. (slide 7)
Mobile Internet use to surpass desktop Internet use by 2014. (slide 8)
If Skype were a Telecoms carrier, it would be the largest in the world. (slide 38)
Japanese trends highlight importance of mobile devices. (slide 50)
Data is the largest chunk of mobile network traffic, not voice. (slide 64)
Users happier to pay for content on the mobile than on the desktop. (slide 75)

Mobile Media Metrics launched

GSMA and Comscore launched their UK Mobile Media Metrics last week in partnership with O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3UK. This is a landmark in the development of mobile advertising. It will also (allegedly) be the most accurate media measurement system ever launched. Some key points below:

• All mobile traffic will now be independently measured and reported via the Comscore interface
• Mobile network operators will anonymously track all page views, site visits, dwell times and individual views across the mobile internet. 
• Browsing information will be collected at an individual level and not via a panel (as is the case in online). This will give actual uniques and page views for any given site.
• It will also be possible to view a detailed demographic breakdown for every sites traffic. This element will use a representative sample of browsers, taking exisitng info from a mobile operator and also using information given by the consumer.
• Traffic accessing via WIFI (and therefore going around mobile operators) will be measured via Comscore Media Metrix 360 and added to the reports.
• Blackberry traffic will also be collected seperately and added to the survey.

This will provide mobile with a common currency to trade on (something lacking in online for years) and also, for the first time, real transparency when planning.

Rob Conway, CEO and Member of the Board of the GSMA said "The underlying principle of Mobile Media Metrics is to deliver valuable and actionable reporting tools to the media industry, while respecting the privacy of individuals. Access to transparent measurement is essential in establishing mobile as a legitimate advertising medium, and Mobile Media Metrics is a critical element in advancing this process."

The Internet: Explained

Focus have just published a great infographic describing the state of the internet today.

They look at exactly who is using the Internet the most, how they are using it and how much the amount of usage is increasing. It breaks things down by gender, age, income level, and nationality amongst other things.

Some of this stuff surprised us a bit — For example, desktop computers are still much more common than laptops. Mostly, we just want to move to Japan.

Uniqlo Calendar

Japanese retailer Uniqlo's website is a wonder to behold.

We love their use of content to make their site not only a showcase for their products but also something both useful and interesting.

We could watch it for hours (but we're not right now cos we're at work, right?)

How to make a splash in Social Media

A fantastic 4 minute speech from social-voting news site Reddit's co-founder Alexis Ohanian on how you should think about the internet if you're intent on getting involved in social media. It's everything a piece of content should be - simple, short, specific and sincere.

Telling the story of Greenpeace's successful "Mr. Splashy Pants" campaign it demonstrates how an internet meme can make a difference.

How is the Internet changing the way you think?

Yes, that's "you", not "we".

Edge's new question for 2010 - how is the internet changing how you think? - is much more interesting than the usual "why aren't you using social media?" or "why don't consumers want to interact with your website?" which might more normally be covered in a media blog.

Edge poses this question to 172 world class scientists, artists and creative thinkers and comes up with some very interesting essays as a result. George Dyson wonders whether machines are replacing human thinking while Clay Shirky asks "What's so great about War and Peace anyway" in a world where more people are reading more than aver thanks to the pervasiveness of the internet.

Great, challenging food for thought from great, challenging thinkers. Recommended reading.

If you're more interested in "we" than "you" then we also recommend this recent article from the Guardian on a similar theme:

Democratic but dangerous too: how the internet changed our world

The Web: democratising force for ideas

We like this neat mashup. It chronicles what the world's online population (in its collective wisdom) has decided is important. Whilst much of it is trivial - it is clear that the web is making some ideas spread around the globe at an ever faster pace, ensuring we all know about it pretty quickly and embedding it firmly in our zeitgeist.