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What Does the Tech Term "IoE" Mean?
If you read Tech News from any site or editorial, you've likely seen the initials IoE when referring to anything up and coming in the Technology World. So what is IoE? It stands for Internet of Everything and is a catch-all phrase to describe adding connectivity and intelligence to just about every device in order to give them special functions. Cisco's CEO, John Chambers, predicts for the impact of IoE in the public sector alone: $4.6 trillion. He believes it will have a dramatic impact on everything from city planning, first responders, military, health and dozens of other environments. It doesn't even come close to stopping there. With online shopping taking a huge hunk out of the revenue for in-store retail, the belief is to beat them at their own game and deploying cutting-edge interactive technologies in their stores to attract more shoppers.
"Stores are not just showrooms, they are digitally-enabled inspiration sites, testing labs, purchase points, instantaneous pickup places, help desks, shipping centers, and return locations." said Darrell Rigby, a partner at management consulting firm Bain & Co.
Consumer tastes are changing. Instead of wandering through stores and making impulse purchases, shoppers use their mobile phones and computers to research prices and cherry-pick promotions, sticking to their shopping lists rather than splurging on uneeded items, said a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Such words strike fear into the heart of big-box retailers and Main Street stores, whose revenues depend on customers purchasing items they didn't even know they needed. Retailers as diverse as Target, Walgreens, Best Buy, and Macy's have seen steep drops in in-store sales.
Retail guys are going to go out of business and ecommerce will become the place everyone buys, said venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, whose firm Andreessen Horowitz has invested in many eCommerce companies.
Smart cars, smart appliances, smartwatches and more all end up with the smart moniker in front of them when they become tied to the Internet and interconnect to ecosystems of devices, software and services.
"Although we have been talking about connected devices since the mid '90s, I think we will look back at this year's CES and realize it as the event where IOE finally hit the mainstream. Over the next three to five years, all companies will create products and services that fit into a world of smarter devices, services and ecosystems. While there will surely be some variants on this theme, the bottom line is that the Internet of Everything is the next big thing for tech and pretty much all industries, as they'll all want to be part of this revolution." -Tim Bajarin, Time Magazine
Exciting things to come in the tech world! Do you have a Smart Car, FitBit, thermostat adjustment from your iphone, etc....? Well, then you are a part of the IoE.
