@MyToaster introduced the world to the idea of social appliances. This Internet of Things devices led to the creation of ThingSpeak – a service created to collect data from things and analyze it with MATLAB.
@MyToaster introduced the world to the idea of social appliances. This Internet of Things devices led to the creation of ThingSpeak – a service created to collect data from things and analyze it with MATLAB.
The Washington Post just published a series of infographics depicting the history of appliances and the Internet.
They listed that MyToaster from 2008 was a significant event that shaped Connected Appliance and the Consumer Internet of Things Products.
2008 – @mytoaster joins Twitter. It’s a toaster that Tweets. Hans Scharler rigged up his toaster to his Twitter so the appliance Tweets one of two things: Toasting or Done Toasting.
On September 17th, I got a bunch of Facebook messages that said my Tweeting Toaster was now a Ziggy comic. 🙂
My Tweeting Toaster is a step in the self-aware direction for appliances. This Ziggy cartoon made me smile, but it also made me realize the inevitability of social objects and the Internet of Things and then Skynet. Hmm, and Ziggy was the name of the computer in Quantum Leap…
[via gocomics.com]
More hot toaster action on Presse Citron…
Aux Etats-Unis, un petit génie a eu l’idée de lier son grille-pain à un compte Twitter pour que celui-ci publie des status comme « Toasting » ou « done toasting », lorsque son propriétaire prépare son petit-déjeuner.
Boston.com says, “This high-tech toaster can Tweet”.
A Pittsburgh man has wired up his toaster to his Twitter so that the appliance automatically tweets “Toasting” and “Done Toasting”—and nothing but that—every morning.
@MyToaster comes in at Number 4 for the “13 Coolest Inanimate Objects You Can Follow on Twitter”. The upgraded toaster is powered by the ioBridge IO-201 and ThingSpeak.
Check out the latest top 10 list from Mashable compiled by Matt Petronzio: 10 Best Inanimate Objects on Twitter
MyToaster boasts an impressive number of followers (almost 1,500) for merely tweeting “Toasting” and “Done Toasting” every morning, and each tweet gets retweeted by at least a handful of followers. For many people, these tweets comprise the best two minutes of the day.
(Just don’t let my toaster hear you say “inanimate” – this is a robophobic slur)
[via Mashable]
What do the Big Ben Clock, MyToaster, and T-800 have in common? They all use Twitter (and are completely absurd)!
Check out this article on ABC.es.
Really?
You might be hearing this new buzz-phrase, “Internet of Things” quite a bit lately. You might be wondering what it’s all about. Let me try to explain.
A “thing” could be a lot of things, but it’s not people (and definitely not places). That leaves everything else. Now according to the Internet, there are 6,767,805,208 people on Earth and of those 6,767,805,208 people 1,802,330,457 have used the Internet. That’s (only) 26%. So, that means one out of four people do not know what Numa Numa is all about. This also means there are a lot more things than people. A thing could be a camera, mobile device, sensors, your air conditioner, a river, and even a toaster.
The trick to the “Internet of Things” or the “Web of Things” will be providing connectivity to all of those things. Once we do, we will be able to gain access to a lot of information. The next challenge will be making that data useful in our everyday lives. We are just at the start of this, that’s why we are just starting to hear about it (with some help with IBM commercials).
I have been fascinated by this concept since I first joined the Internet, back where GeoCities and L’Hotel Chat were the hip spots. For me the interest started off by controlling things over the web. Then, I started wondering what are my things doing. What temperature is it at my house? What’s going on with my freezer? Is it time to refill my humidor? How much power is my computer using?
Over a year and half ago, I placed my toaster on Twitter (@mytoaster). Since then, my toaster starting using other social networks and discovered online dating all by itself. That is a weird thought, “What if things get smarter and smarter?” Things will eventually be able to socialize with other things. My (sentient) toaster might even find another compatible toaster using eHarmony.
I am not saying that this is the best example of the Internet of Things, but what I am saying is that it’s a start. I believe in a future of connected things so strongly that I joined a start up company that enabled my toaster way back when I was more interesting than my things.
For a good primer on the Internet of Things, check the recent article on Silicon.com called, “Cheat Sheet: The internet of things”. My toaster even gets a tongue-in-cheek reference. Actually there are lots of great sites that are covering the Internet of Things and making things happen in this emerging industry – Singularity Hub, ReadWriteWeb, Wired.com to name a few.
My guess is that you will hear more and more about The Internet of Things until it hits Smart Grid proportions, then you will hear about the next big thing – the smart internet of things grid perhaps.
My toaster is back in the news with a post on FoxNews.com regarding “Things that Tweet”. I love things that can speak and soon the idea of a “web of things” will not be so odd.
The website “Global Toaster” reported that my internet toaster is a celebrity. Their site is chock full of toasters, toaster info, toaster love, and a toaster blog. Check it out.