Introduction :
Before 21st century there were three basic requirements of humans they were food, clothing and shelter. But now in this 21st century there is an additional fourth requirement along with food, clothing and shelter. The fourth requirement for us today is Internet. With use of Internet we are always surrounded with devices that communicate and interact with users via internet. These network of devices together form , “Internet of Things” which is abbreviated as IoT. Some of the real life applications of IoT are Smart TV, Smart Watch , Smart Led and Smart phone. Whenever a new technology comes in market it has to face many challenges to keep itself in demand. IoT is providing us benefits in many ways , but it poses some issues that need to be solved and in order to get best use of it. As we are making use of IoT on daily basis it is important for us to know it’s merits and demerits.
Merits of IoT :
Providing access to accurate information: There was a time when we had no medium to get accurate information about any subject and we used to roam here and there for right information. But with invention of smartphone we can get access to whatever information we want. For example: If we type yoga classes near me in google search bar in our smartphone we will get list of all the yoga classes near our house ,it will also show us distance and time that would take to reach our destination. Hence we have access to accurate information that would help us in better decision making.
Devices communicate amongst themselves: With help of IoT two or more devices can communicate themselves. One device collects the information and sends it to another device. If sharing of data is allowed amongst the devices then we can have final output that we want. For example: If we are doing a transaction in laptop after entering our bank details an OTP is sent on our mobile phone and entering the correct OTP the transaction is successful. Hence by communication of two devices via internet user authentication is done.
Data Monitoring: One of the biggest merit of IoT is Data Monitoring. With help of IoT devices we can monitor data time to time. For example: With help of device like glucometer a doctor can keep track of his patients blood sugar level and accordingly advise his patient to take necessary actions to keep blood sugar level in control when ever it is high or low.
Prevents occurrence of any abnormal loss : IoT devices help us to protect our goods from getting damaged due to occurrence of an unexpected incident. For example: If we have stored our goods in our go down and unexpectedly fire occurs then how we will come to know about it and protect our goods from getting damaged . We need to install smoke sensors in our go down so that when the fire occurs it will generate a fire alarm to alert us that fire has occurred and then we would be able to take immediate actions to curb the fire. Thus IoT helps in protecting our goods from an abnormal loss.
Demerits of IoT :
Too much dependence on technology: The most common demerit of IoT that we are facing today is that we are becoming too much dependent on technology. Today to do small task like switching on the ac, lights and bulbs are using apps in our mobile phone to do it. Hence our physical movement is decreasing day by day which would make us feel more lazy and impact our health.
Large Scale unemployment: Business organizations are always looking forward to enhance their productivity and grow their business. In order to achieve their goals they are adopting with automotive technology. With increase in automation the need for having employees would decrease. Organizations may reduce their workforce and limit the recruitment of new employees as well.
Risks of Data Loss: There is possibility that is transmitted by our IoT devices is prone to cyber security threats. Hackers may get control of our devices by techniques like Phishing, SQL injection etc. Once the hacker gets control of our system then he would steal data and misuse it. For example: If information related our debit card number gets in hands of intruder then he would use it steal money from our bank account.
Lack of Compatibility: As devices from distinct manufacturers will be interconnected, the trouble of compatibility in tagging and monitoring increases. Although this drawback may additionally drop off if all the manufacturers agree to a frequent standard, even after that, technical problems will persist. Today, we have Bluetooth-enabled gadgets and compatibility issues exist even in this technology! Compatibility troubles can also end result in human beings shopping for home equipment from a sure manufacturer, main to its monopoly in the market.
