During the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution led the complete transformation of our culture, society and our economics. You may not realize it right now, but we are smack in the middle of another Industrial Revolution. Our Revolution is primarily centered around the Internet of Things (IoT). Projected to generate more than $2.5 trillion in revenue in the next 7 years, its starting up fast and you do not want to miss it!
For a better understanding of what I mean, let’s provide a bit of historical context:
First Break Through (18th Century)
One of the major breakthrough during the 18th century was being able to harvest the power of steam to power factories and enable production to levels never seen before that time. Improvements to the steam engine allowed a factory to be located anywhere and not close to just water. This is key as water power levels vary vastly in relation to seasons and sometimes was not even available. The development of steam engines also allowed for the creation of more efficient and smaller engines, which found their way into farms, railways, cars and boats.
It is worth mentioning that the technological advances during this time occurred quickly due to firms willing to share information with each other. This availability of information is what lead to the creation of new products and techniques.
Second Breakthrough (Start of the 20th Century)
Playing a major role in the “Second Industrial Revolution”, electrification greatly improved the processes and developments in manufacturing and communication in the early 20th century. It allowed for major improvements for the assembly line and for mass production. As well, it added to improved working conditions as it eliminated heat and pollution caused by gas lighting and reduced fire hazards which ultimately reduced cost of fire insurance. The money saved from that insurance would often would offset the cost of electricity.
Electricity also helped revolutionize transportation and communication methods. For instance, electricity helped establish railways as major infrastructure in cities across the country. As well, the rise of the telegram and the telephone was made possible due to electricity. Not only can information be spread faster, the world was also drawn into a closer community with the spread of these instantaneous communication methods.
Third Breakthrough (Start of 1970’s)
In the 1970’s we stared to see disruptive change in the use of electronics in the manufacturing industry. During this time, development of miniaturized electric components greatly reduced the cost of computer power and parts. Components that took up entire rooms nearly 30 years prior were reduced to the size of a penny. These new findings sparked a rapid influx of automation in manufacturing and created a whole new consumer market as well. New calculators, watches were made available as these innovations reduced the cost of computing power by at least a factor of 50. New technologies were being deployed to assembly lines in automobile plants, electronic companies, and appliance factories.
Fourth Breakthrough (Today)
Its time to wake up and acknowledge that the next big disruptive technology is already taking us by storm. The IoT brings a lot of value to the manufactoring industry and is making it a smarter industry as a whole. For evidence look no further than the concept that IoT combines all the major innovations created in the past revolutions.
Lets summarize this concept as the ABCD’s of IoT. With the rise of IoT, we see a increase in applications that record and create big data, which connects our systems to allow them to communicate and ultimately display any findings or direction on to any device for our own manipulation.
Putting it all together, the disruptive and innovative nature of IoT incorporates all the major successes of past revolutions. The availability of information, the ability to share information quickly with others, and reduction in size and increased computing power of electronics for automation are at the backbone of IoT implementations. As if this was not already cool, now IoT allows for minimal human involvement for a truly automated experience. Devices now gather, report and can even manipulate data for companies and consumers without any having to expend any of the energy. It will be interesting to see in the future what next big innovation sparks a revolution, but for now, sit back and enjoy history being written.