Smart Homes: RFID and The Internet of Things

"The planet has grown a central nervous system" - IBMSocialMedia "The Internet of Things" (below)

Maybe it's just me, maybe I watch too many horror movies, maybe I watch too much post-apocalyptic sci-fi but The Internet of Things scares the life out of me. I prefer to err on the side of caution but I'm not cyber-dystopian. I'm more likely to subscribe to the Evgeny Morozov school of thought (cyber-realism). I see both sides. So when Teodor Mitew showed an ad for the future of Ericsson depicting Ericsson's version of a Smart Home in his lecture Case: The Internet of Things: From Networked Objects to Ubiquitous Computing I was instantly filled me with both wonder and terror. 

It's all fun and games until someone wants to put a chip inside your head.

For someone as unorganised as me, the thought that my home could organise my life for me was amazing. But in the same breath I had a little SkyNet moment. Yes, I went there. My mind grappled simultaneously with two apposing notions. I saw the cyberutopian future where locking myself out of my house (again and again and again) would never be a problem, I would simply text message my house as I was leaving my car and my house would unlock the door for me as I reached the front step (Mitew 2011). I also saw the cyber-dystopian future where my house may be hacked by a disgruntled ex-lover or prank-loving friend, actively setting my house against me and say, locking me out. Or (if you want to go to extremes) an individual being targeted by remotly controlled inanimate objects in their own home. I can't imagine the level of paranoid that would inspire in someone with a lot of enemies like say, Julian Assange?

Don't tell me the size of that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification tag)

doesn't simultaneously amaze you and freak you out.

In Why Things Matter, Julian Bleeker describes networked objects as transcending from passive things occupying a physical space to active nodes "occupying themselves" (2006). It's not hard to see the advantages of inanimate objects becoming animate through internet connectivity. Whether it's the cattle transmitting health data to the farmer (as per the example shown in the lecture), or RFID tags on your keys that communicate to the rest of the house when you are leaving, initiating a chain reaction of actions performed by other house hold devices, the potential for convenience is astounding. 

Allegedly Indonesia plans to track HIV/AIDS sufferers with RFID chips.

But so is the potential for harm. 

Further Reading:

The Internet of Things Blurs the Lines between Bits and Atoms: I linked this further up in the post but I'm going to link it again here because it's got some fascinating information on RFID tags, Smart Homes, and the companies involved in developing RFID technology.

RFID Chips Watch Grandma Brush her Teeth: Potential uses for RFID technology in the health sector.

International Journal of Smart Home article on RFID and National Security.

ReadWriteWeb: 5 Companies Building the Internet of Things.

Android@Home: Google Gets Smart about the Smart Home.

Blog Sources:

Mitew, T 2011, Case: The Internet of Things: From Networked Objects to Ubiquitous Computing, Lecture, DIGC202 Global Networks, University of Wollongong, delivered 24 October

Bleecker, J. 2006, 'Why Things Matter: A Manifesto for networked objects' accessed 27 October http://www.nearfuturelaboratory.com/files/WhyThingsMatter.pdf

Battle of the Brands: Apple TV vs Google TV

“'Free software' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech,' not as in 'free beer'.”

-Richard M. Stallman

Smart TV

In his lecture Case: Apple Vs Google: The Two Futures of Mobile Devices Dr Teodor Mitew discussed the war between Apple and Google for domination of the mobile phone market (2011). Mitew described this as being not just a battle of the brands but a fundamental difference in ideology between open source software provided by companies like Google and so-called 'walled garden' companies like Apple (2011). But the quarrel doesn't stop at handsets and apps, and it certainly isn't confined to just Apple and Google. 

The battle rages on

The war has found itself a new arena, internet compatible television. Enter Google TV and Apple TV and let the games commence... Now you don't have to watch the next two clips that closely to see the before-mentioned ideology clash in action. Jobs does his usual "a 4th the size" of the previous model pitch and as the video progresses we begin to see more and more of the "walled garden" philosophy emerge. Jobs reveals that content will now be viewed on a rental basis, they've got Fox, ABC and Netflix on board. Apple means business here.

For more on Apple TV see the further reading at the end of this post.

Moving on to Google. As Daniel Roth mentions in his article Google's Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web for Wired magazine, Google seeks to create an "entire new wireless family tree" in the mobile handset market with the help of Android (2008). Does Google TV seek to do the same? Let's compare the video below to the one we've just seen. Google's pitch is basically the same as Apple's, television with internet capability etc.

But notice the difference in format. Google makes no mention of agreements with other companies, it mentions Netflix, but only that it is possible to use the subscription service with the device. The difference in philosophy emerges indirectly as Google explains that while you can buy a device that allows you to access Google TV through an existing television,  some televisions will come with Google TV already installed. Google TV compatible devices imply open source devices. But in the end, as Mitew discussed in the lecture, the ideological difference can be summed up as thus: closed system device orientated Apple vs compatibility driven software with less of a focus on what connects you and more of a focus on how (2011).

And for everyone who looked at this post and went "lol, TL;DR", here's a friendly infograph to help you out.

I'm cruel aren't I? To view a sight friendly version, click here.

Further Reading:

As Apple TV rumors build, Google upgrades Google TV.

Microsoft sees Xmas debut for Xbox TV: I didn't have time (or space) to mention it in this post, but Microsoft we weigh in later this year with their own contender, Xbox TV. Which is sure to shake things up even more.

If you don't read any other article on Google, Apple and Microsoft and their battle for your TV viewing read this one. Apple, Google and Microsoft fight for TV: it outlines the rivalry, the upgrades and Steve Job's last word on the venture. It's only two pages long and also mentions other companies trying to break into the internet TV market including Boxee and Chinese company Hisense and the innovations they're flaunting to gain attention.

Google TV and Apple TV Comparison. Comparison in table form.

Blog Sources: 


Roth, D, 2008, 'Google's Open Source Android OS Will Free the Wireless Web' Wired, 23 June accessed 24/10/2011 http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/16-07/ff_android


Mitew, T 2011, Case: Apple Vs Google: The Two Futures of Mobile Devices, Lecture, DIGC202 Global Networks, University of Wollongong, delivered 17 October.