The Internet of Things, or, Tech and the City

This interesting article comes via extremetech.com. The ubiquity and power of current day technology, specifically the internet, is in planning only somewhat understood. This article looks even further forward however, toward what could/will be. Incredible levels of inter-connectivity between people/goods/information. Things that will have profound impacts upon how we design cities, because people won't be living in cities the way they currently do.

Planners need to be futurists, because if you don't have a grasp of what technology could be doing in 20-30-50 years then why are you designing a neighbourhood for that timescale, eh?

From the article:

Imagine if everything in the world was connected up to the same network? Every computer, every loaf of bread, every car, every traffic signal, every human. Imagine the possibilities of combining and correlating that data. Before you set off in the morning, you could see the exact, real-time traffic on your smartphone — and you would know what the weather (and air quality) is like at your office/campus. From home, you would know the exact stock levels of your nearest supermarket and the price of gas.

Naturally, the dangers, privacy, security, complexity and sheer sky-net potential of such a future also warrants some serious thought.