IST POST!

The internet of things, there are pros and cons when it comes to this particular issue, more devices connected to the internet, easier interface and usability, with multiple devices connected to the internet like our toaster, house lights, and fridge, it can serve as a very productive form of assistance for busy people. Super cool! But what is the other side to having everything in your home and around you connected to the internet? Information, and security.

This is always a concern whether users think about it or not. The more devices you have connected to the internet the more information you are displaying about yourself not just to the advertising companies, but also to hackers, which poses as a threat to your security. For example, you have now connected a fridge to the internet, now you can look inside your fridge when you’re not at home and adjust the temperature. Great. But now the corporation who made that fridge knows what time you leave the house, what kind of food you like, and can even deduce how much you eat out depending on the usage.

The internet of things is not 100% safe and only view able to the corporations, as nothing really is on the internet, so for example say that a hacker was able to breach your system. Now they know when you leave the house, hence they could use this great power of technology for malicious intent. So the internet of things has its upside, but I believe its downside weighs much more.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeb-harrison/the-internet-of-things_b_11553446.html

Google’s self driving car is a buzz all over the internet. A car that can drive itself, something we only see in movies and Hollywood and comic books. This may be exciting now but it is important to understand the effects of the self driving car in the long run.

The way I see Google’s self driving car is that it is only a tool for human beings who are too lazy to do anything. This new gadget will serve no other purpose that would benefit anyone except for entertainment, and if it is any good, I believe that the cons outweigh the pro. Taxi drivers would go out of business, even if taxi’s still existed by the time Google’s self driving car consumed the market, human beings wouldn’t be needed to control the vehicle, so it would be putting a lot of people out of their jobs. In addition UBER drivers would lose their jobs, truck drivers would eventually lose their jobs, and those people who park your car would eventually be without a job.

I believe that technology is making human beings lazier and only decreases the majority’s’ standard of living in order to increase the standard of living of a few. So Google’s self driving car will cause the economy to crumble, or at least part of it, at the expense of the middle class workers.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/052014/how-googles-selfdriving-car-will-change-everything.asp

2 thoughts on “IST POST!

  1. I agree that the thought of the unsafe parts of the Internet of Things is a little unsettling. All these devices connected over networks may seem like such an improvement and a convenience to the user but there are more sides to every story. Companies knowing your whereabouts and such is a big security problem for me for multiple reasons. You never know who is watching. On top of that, your information can be gathered over time, does not go away, and can be looked at by whomever may work for that company. Hackers are always a big threat. But with more and more information being out there at all times, hackers can essentially gather any information they want on certain people who have a lot of connected devices. The technology that goes into self-driving cars is so tedious and does not happen over-night. Therefore there have been many jobs created through sanctions of companies with new technology along the lines of the self-driving car. All in all, i like the idea of the IoT but there is definitely aspects to be precautious about.

  2. I agree with most of what you have to say with the exception of one point. I do see one major benefit to self-driving cars and that is for people who are disabled, especially the blind. As someone who has a family member that is vision impaired, I know how dependent they are for sources of transportation. This family member lives in the city because it provides multiple ways of commuting. With self-driving cars, she could have that accessibility.

    As far as security and privacy goes, my biggest concern is not companies gathering information on me as much as it is hackers getting into my home network to steal personal information. With the internet of things, we are exposing more and more private information for these hackers to access. With there being constant news stories about foreign governments hacking top secret government files, I worry that I could too easily be the target. That is what makes me fully by into the internet of things concept.

    It will be interesting to see how self driving cars will impact the economy. You are correct in your analysis of jobs being lost due to transportation jobs going away. However as technology has slowly replaced jobs in today’s world, the economy hasn’t seemed to take a hard hit.

Leave a Reply