Google's purchase of Nest signifies a major direction in where consumer technologies are headed.
The conversation around Big Data has this far revolved mainly around enterprises using it to optimize operations, serving up marketing efficiently etc. And by the way, this is about Big Data if you define Big Data not as the sheer volume of data exhaust but what you do with that data exhaust.
Imagine if you will the applications of data to enhance life! Self-correcting interconnected devices and sensors that learn as they are used optimizing everything from customized temperature controls to driving your car to shopping. Only a small portion of the average person's environment today is custom tailored perhaps limited to auto settings in his or her automobile for seat adjustment and pre-set radio stations. Imagine now the coming explosion in "auto-sets" for life. Then imagine these "auto-sets" as ever changing over time as the persons habits and practices change. This is the essence of the internet of things (IoT) as applied to the consumer. More appropriately, this is the internet of EVERTHING!
There are privacy concerns of course. While you are using these tools to enhance your life, Google is also collecting data on everything. The data collection is an essential component as there are two layers to it. The first is the data around the individual user; the second is the aggregate data around all users. Both are integral to the optimal user experience and Google will have to do a lot more than it has had to in the past to address these concerns in this coming age of hyper connectivity.
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