10 smart takes on wearables and the Internet of Things from a local founder

Despite the immense computing powers contained in our ever-present smartphones, they remain distinct and detached from us, and this division creates inefficiency when it comes to the communication between us and our devices. What if computing power was all around us, integrated into our lives through wearables and Internet of Things-connected devices, constantly able to know where we are and what we want?
That’s the promise of ubiquitous computing. It’s an established concept in computer science, but as it becomes ever more technologically possible, there are some interesting considerations to be made.
Local founder Noble Ackerson, a self-defined ubiquitous computing enthusiast, laid out what he sees as the current state of ubiquitous computing in a piece published to Hackernoon on Medium. We last featured Ackerson’s piece on advice for entrepreneurs thinking about joining an accelerator.
Here are just a few of his takeaways:

1. Specific purpose is better than general purpose. Especially for wearables, devices that cater to a specific purpose are faring better in the marketplace than those that attempt to be all-purpose, Ackerson said. He cited the success of Snapchat Spectacles as one example of this.
2. Security and privacy remain key issues. “Now more than ever, it is important for industry to rally around IoT standards,” Ackerson writes. “It is ever so critical for devices to be built from the ground up with security and privacy in mind.”
3. Simple interfaces (or no interfaces) are the way forward. “Humans are slow to learn new interfaces,” Ackerson notes, which makes him think that, as tech advances, companies will do well to strive to create simple, intuitive interfaces.
4. 2017 will be a big year in ubiquitous computing. We’ve come a long way since the inception of the concept, Ackerson says, but there is still much to be done. Ackerson writes that he sees ubiquitous computing as just now getting over the top of the “peak of inflated expectations” in the Gartner Hype Cycle. “I think this means 2017 is ripe for continued industry consolidation and the trend of startup exits and failure will increase. There is lots to learn.”

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