There’s been a lot of talk about the
Internet of Things recently. That is: linking up bits of your home to the
internet. For example, connecting your oven to the web, turning it on or off via
email, checking the temperature online, and so on. Of course, there’s a bit more
to it. The possibilities sound both sci-fi-amazing (fight global warming
through an IoT thermostat!) and sort of niche. As
with all of this stuff, mass take-up remains key.  

Now meet ifttt. If This Then That. It’s a useful
little service: connect your email up to your facebook profile, or your fitbit up to your twitter account, or your instagram up to your dropbox, all in ways that you decide yourself. You
build very simple connections between
one platform and another, like really basic computer programs. So I could make
a program that would save every photo I take with Instagram into my dropbox, or send off every photo i take from my gmail. It works with a whole bunch
of really popular services. And the site design is excellent – really
user friendly.

So how does ifttt relate to the Internet of
Things? Well, it seems that a part of the problem with the Internet of Things
is that it’s a bit awkward to get your head around. It's not very intuitive. It begs the questions: Why would I want to send an email to my
kettle, or to my vacuum cleaner – why do I care?

I think those questions can be answered experientially, when you see how fun and useful connecting stuff up can be. ifttt makes the logic behind the internet
of things available to a wide audience – a stepping stone, of sorts. To see the
potential in linking internet to object, it seems sensible to test drive it online first. If ifttt can get people adjusted to connecting (beyond person to person), then perhaps the IoT will seem obvious rather than unusual. 

At least, there's a nice quirkiness to the fact that a digital platform can help cultivate behaviour that will enhance our connections within the real world.

—–

(Thoughts courtesy of Planning Placement newbie James.) 

These last few weeks I’ve been finished the final final touches
to a two projects that I will hopefully be able to present to clients soon.
Fingers crossed!

One aspect of the role has snagged my attention recently. Planning seems to operate at the cutting
edge of a lot of things: tech, media, digital trends and so on. As I’ve
mentioned before, this immersion in the new, in the up-and-coming, comes with a
risk of losing sight of what really matters – relevance. 

But my
experiences so far have told me that adverts are about sculpting basic human
feelings; a large part of planning is about making sure those feelings are
exactly the right for the brand.

So: part of the job pushes planners out
into the world-to-come, with all its attendant strange ideas and weird
innovations. But at the same time one is forced to remain grounded and
attentive to what people actually feel about things. Not silicon valley. Just
people.

Which gives the job a nice dynamic – trading in newness/novelty and basic-everyone-gets-it-human-ness at the same time.