High-capacity network bandwidth has become more widely available, and we have quickly tapped into every last inch of its capacity. More devices are built with wi-fi capabilities, the costs of mobile devices are going down and smartphones are in the hands of more people than ever before. In fact, Apple might have already exhausted the market and is seeing drastically lower sales forecasts for the iPhone.
We are moving into an era in which virtually any device will connect to the Internet. Phones, fitness trackers, dishwashers, televisions, espresso machines, home security systems, cars. The list goes on. Analyst firm Gartner estimates that over 20 billion connectable devices will exist worldwide by 2020. Welcome to IoT—the Internet of Things. A giant network of connectable things.