United States of Connectedness: What works for Internet of Things

Today you can buy an alarm clock, a pill bottle and even a scale that connects to the web. The question is, should you?

There are three things any connected device should offer in order for its connectivity to justify the (generally) higher price for that item:

• Ecosystem: Is the connected device a platform or part of a platform you are currently using?
• Convenience: How much value the connected device offers ties into its ecosystem, but is also its own issue because the connectivity needs to allow you to do things you couldn’t previous do without connectivity. Adding connectivity to devices should make them smart but also make them easier to use.
• Data: The biggest value connected data-gathering devices can offer is the ability to grab far more data than a human could and deliver this data in real-time. If a device has the intelligence to act on that data, then the connectivity is even more worth the expense.