The Economist (January 23)
“Today about a trillion chips are made a year, or 128 for every person on the planet.” With uses burgeoning in applications from EVs to AI, “demand will soar further,” especially as IoT connects machines and other things. In contrast, the industry is experiencing profound consolidation. As chip generations become more challenging and costly, “the number of manufacturers at the industry’s cutting-edge has fallen from over 25 in 2000 to three.” The “grueling 60-year struggle for supremacy is nearing its end.”
Tags: AI, Applications, Burgeoning, Challenging, Chips, Consolidation, Costly, Cutting edge, Demand, EVs, Generations, Grueling, IoT, Manufacturers, Struggle, Supremacy
The Economist (September 14)
The internet of things (IoT) “is a slow revolution that has been gathering pace for years, as computers have found their way into cars, telephones and televisions. But the transformation is about to go into overdrive. One forecast is that by 2035 the world will have a trillion connected computers, built into everything from food packaging to bridges and clothes.”
Tags: Bridges, Cars, Clothes, Computers, Food packaging, IoT, Overdrive, Revolution, Telephones, Televisions, Transformation
Endgadget (May 16)
“Japan plans to release 10-billion 14-digit numbers by 2021,” but the country “likely won’t be the only nation facing the problem of needing more numbers for more devices. Last year, the number of IoT devices in the world surpassed the number of mobile phones. Since 2008, there have been more connected devices on the planet than people, and by 2020 it’s predicted that there will be 50 billion connected devices globally.
Tags: Connected, Devices, IoT, Japan, Mobile phones, People, Phone numbers
The Economist (May 20)
The WannaCry attack reads like the script to “a Hollywood disaster film.” Even though it had a relatively happy ending, “the incident rammed home two unpleasant truths about the computerised world. The first is that the speed, scalability and efficiency of computers are a curse as well as a blessing.” Digital data “can be sent around the world in milliseconds,” both a blessing and a bane. “The second unpleasant truth is that opportunities for mischief will only grow.” As we embrace the internet or things, vulnerabilities will multiply “as computers find their way into everything from cars and pacemakers to fridges and electricity grids.”
Tags: Cars, Computers, Curse, Efficiency, IoT, Pacemakers, Scalability, Speed, Vulnerabilities, WannaCry
Institutional Investor (March 21)
“The Internet and all its mixed blessings are currently in full flower with the Internet of Things (IoT).” Connected things are forecast to grow by 30% this year and by 2020, there will probably be over 20 billion things connected to the Internet. “The pressing question: Is the IoT floor too far along for security to be, as technologists like to say, baked in?” To hackers, the IoT represents the ultimate honeypot” and already a significant share of botnet attacks are taking place not on PCs, but from connected things. “Welcome to the insecurity of things.”
