WHO IS MAKING THE INTERNET OF THINGS?

WHO IS MAKING THE INTERNET OF THINGS?

We are largely interested in the practice of actually designing and making Internet-

connected Things. As Internet of Things thought leader and entrepreneur 

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino noted at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s 

Power of Making Symposium, both these words mean many things to deferent people.

There are many crossover points between all the disciplines listed. Artists may 

collaborate with designers on installations or with traditional craftspeople on 

printmaking. Designers and engineers work closely to make industrial products, 

and hobbyist “hackers” (in the sense of tinkerers and amateur engineers), by 

their nature, are a diverse group encompassing various technical and artistic 

interests and skills. The map isn’t complete, and one could raise issue with 

omissions: no role of “architect” is listed, only the discipline of architecture, 

straddling the roles of engineer, designer, and craftsperson.

A more striking omission, given Deschamps-Sonsino’s pedigree as an 

Internet of Things innovator, is the role of “builder of the Internet of Things”. 

And, of course, this is not accidental. Rather, the Internet of Things straddles 

all these disciplines: a hacker might tinker at the prototype for a Thing; a 

software developer might write the online component; a designer might turn 

the ugly prototype into a thing of beauty, possibly invoking the skills of a 

craftsperson, and an engineer might be required to solve difficult technical 

challenges, especially in scaling up to production.the Internet of Things 

is, or should be, the “Internet of Beautiful Things”, and every object, as well 

as being a crafted, designed, and engineered object, is, or could be, the work 

of an arManufacturer

Of course, it is a rare Renaissance individual who covers all these disciplines 

with the fluency and ease that are conducive to creating a truly successful 

product. If you fit only one or a handful of these roles, you can still learn 

enough of the others to get things going. Getting additional expertise to 

make a project work, from prototype to production,  The most important lesson, however, is that 

whatever your interest as a creative person, you are abundantly qualified to 

get involved in the exciting field of the Internet of Things!

See also:

the-technology-of-internet-of things

the-internet-of-things

the-flavour-of-internet-of-things

application-software

The-internet-of-things