The Internet of Eggs

We’re on the cusp of another pretty incredible tech revolution. If you haven’t heard, it’s called the internet of things; a movement that will see all objects equipped with their own monitors to collect and transmit information to other objects within their network, the companies that made them, and the people who own them. It’s hyper-connectivity, and it’s coming home with you.

It might mean you get a text when you’re running out of milk, or an email when your pot plant need watering. Lights will adjust to the music you play, and art will be projected on your wall according to the weather outside.

On one hand, it’ll be nice to see the internet utilised for things that matter, rather than pornography and cat gifs. However there is a bigger issue at hand.

The way the internet of things is being sold to us is by appealing to our egos. Companies like Cisco tell us that we’ll be the king of the system; gifted ultimate control of everything around us, and the information to do it right.

But the idea that we are masters of it all is bullshit. What a total underutilization of the technology; having us in control of it all, when the algorithms in their technology used far outweighs our ability to make decisions.

It’s nothing more than a sell to get us to buy into the internet of things - to feel like we'll maintain a level of control, still being an integral part of the system. The reality is far different. Why would we automate everything but our role? It makes no sense.

The truth is that pretty soon after the internet of things takes hold, our role will become entirely redundant. In order to operate to its full potential, it needs to cut us out of the deal. The machines will talk to one another, and they’ll be getting shit done way more effectively than we ever could.

Of course, there still needs to be the illusion of control.

It’s like packet mix for cakes. If you’ve ever made one, you’ll know that packet cake mix needs an egg to make it. There has been the technology to include the egg component in the mix since packet mix was first invented. However, by leaving the responsibility of cracking an egg to the “baker”, there is a sense of importance and responsibility derived that wouldn’t exist if we were just to add water.

That’s why the internet of things will resign mankind to a of future ‘packet-mix humanity’. We will fulfill a purely token role, passengers in life, under the illusion we are in control when the reality is the results and outcomes of our existence are largely controlled by everything else around us. And that’s when we shall experience a new revolution, or more accurately, devolution. Seven billion different components all collecting and transmitting information to one another - The internet of eggs