Communications Update: Google’s Nest Acquisition Speaks to the Future of the Internet

January 20, 2014 – Think you have a handle on the Internet now that you have mastered Google or Bing Search, have become chronically addicted to email, can’t stop checking your Facebook Wall, or find yourself on Hangout or Skype with friends? Well think again because the Internet of Things is about to create an information explosion like nothing we have ever seen before.

I am sure you have noticed that Google Search today lets you ask questions by voice or by typing. And you can ask Google to search using very natural language queries. Well now imagine your house as being an extension of your computer with every electronic device capable of conversing with you. Imagine the WiFi and Bluetooth enabled network within your home as capable of understanding what you want when you ask. In this new world you will set when the lights go on and off, the temperature on your thermostat, the settings on your alarm system, even when to turn on the ignition to warm up your car. You’ll also through ubiquitous mobile communication make reservations at your favorite restaurant, get tickets to the latest baseball game, or order in that triple-cheese pizza you so like.

You will do all of this because the devices around you will all be capable of interpreting what you say and executing on your commands. In taking us to this very Star Trekkian world we have Google leading the charge. In their acquisition of Nest, a smart thermostat developer, we are seeing one of the movers and shakers of the Internet take that first step into the world I have described above.

And Google is not alone. They are being joined by others like IBM, Cisco, Ericsson, Alcatel, Microsoft, and Apple, the who’s who of the world of communications and computing, developing network connectivity like we have never seen before.

Think of everything around you being integrated for accessibility and you have a vision of the end point of this technology thrust. And then add artificial intelligence to every device, giving each built-in smarts. That’s the future at our doorstep.

Will it take a decade before we are fully immersed in this Internet of Everything? If Google and others have their way, and they certainly have the money, muscle and intellectual capability to make it happen, I think a decade is about right.

Related articles across the web

• The Eye in Your Home: Google, Nest and the Rise of the Physical Graph
• What Nest Is Google Feathering – The Internet Of Things’, Apple’s or Nest Labs’?
• Why Google Bought Nest and What It Could Mean for Your Home