The Internet of Things in the Cloud

Chapter 1

The Third ICT Wave

1.1 Rise of the Machines

Over the past decades, billions of people have hooked themselves up to the Internet via the computer, and more recently mobile devices such as smartphones. This communication revolution is now extending to objects as well as people. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication has long been predicted, and now it is rushing into the present. According to Parks Associates, the number of smartphones (excluding feature phones) worldwide is expected to top 1.1 billion in 2013. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Smart grid devices will reach 244 million; e-readers and tablets will be 487 million; networked office devices, 2.37 billion; networked medical devices, 86 million; connected automobiles, ...