Programming The Internet of Things - Zapier and IFTTT

The sum is greater

I had previously discussed MakerSwarm as a cool new app platform for programming The Internet of Things (IOT). It just occurred to me that MakerSwarm really needs to be complemented by a product like Zapier or IFTTT. These two products allow you to schedule messages between different online web services. Typical examples include posting to Twitter when you author a blog article. Of course that example is likely already handled by your blogging service, but there are many dozens of online services. Rather than worry about finding and administering LOTS of point-to-point integration, Zapier and IFTTT act as an integration hub.

What makes a merger of Zapier or IFTTT with a product like MakerSwarm interesting is that it would further break down the distinction between services and devices. Some examples quickly come to mind. If my garage door opener (which runs Android) opens, then send me an email. Or in the reverse (service to device) direction, if someone comments on a Facebook post, make my smartwatch beep. I expect that in a few years we will all be using enough smart devices and web services that all kinds use useful (or otherwise) combinations will arise.

Next wave of tech consumers

Few tech analysts grasp the significance of this opportunity. Perhaps it is generally assumed that people only want to be passive consumers if information and entertainment. That may be true still of the majority of people today, but the next generation of tech consumers I expect will be more active users who will desire to themselves orchestrate the interactions of their various web-enabled gadgets, appliances, cars, and homes. In order to reach this large potential audience, the development will have to be visual/diagrammatic along the lines of Scratch or Snap.

Other players in this space

Have a look at things like DeviceJS, WigWag, and ThingSquare. I am sure that you could find many others on Google. When some larger consumer tech companies wake up to the huge potential here, we shall see much more activity. A couple of these startups will get acquired by Facebook, Apple, Google, etc.

Some questions I have

Will there be standards? Or will this only be available on proprietary clouds? Will there be a new programming language (backing the visual tools) which dominates the space? Or will JavaScript or Python be considered simple and expressive enough? Should we expect to soon see specialized IOT chips or cards soon? How cheap can they be made? How hackable do we want our physical environment to become? Are swarm apps robots? Are the bound by Asimov's laws?

Bring on the "Killer Swarm Apps"

Catchy juxtaposition of phrases don't you think? I expect that we will be hearing it more. While I just came up with that bit of cleverness myself, I see that Scott Snyder used the phrase in his book "The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4g Revolution" (2009, Pearson Prentice Hall).

One of my earliest and most memorable nightmares happened when I was about six years old and I dreamt that all of the appliances in our house became alive and came after me. A premonition of a future evil semi-sentient appliances? Technology and I have a very happy and mutually respectful relationship now (an engineering degree was good therapy in that respect). I have every intention of participating in this next phase of robotics and communications technology. Stay tuned to this blog for ongoing research, reflections and findings.