Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

With all the hype about the Internet of Things—new connected products intended to bring greater efficiencies and simplicity to life—it may be surprising how few consumers are actually adopting these new technologies. 

"Despite predictions of rapid growth for smart products in the near future, the Internet of Things has yet to secure a foothold in the mainstream consumer market," notes a new exploratory case study by Affinova, which asked consumers to evaluate more than 4 million product concept variations and identify the most desired products and functions. The company said its research sheds light "on key consumer preferences and barriers to mainstream adoption of smart products."

One such barrier is a lack of understanding of what smart products are available and what their advantages and limitations are. While 57 percent of all consumers strongly agreed that the Internet of Things will be "just as revolutionary as the smartphone," they don't know how or why—92 percent told Affinova its very difficult to pinpoint what they want from smart objects, but feel that they'll know it when they see it....

You probably thought your Uncle Henry was a little weird (and annoying) when he kept showing you how many more Nike FuelBand calories he needed to burn/earn to reach his preset daily goal. But what’s amazing is how that little wrist band with its tight feedback loop displaying points can actually motivate people to improve their lifestyle. Oh, it also makes a nice watch.

We’re at the dawn of a new industry loosely called "wearable technology" that may have reached $4.6 billion in sales around the world already this year.And Google Glass isn’t even for sale yet. Many geeks already are on board. The April Modis Geek Pride Survey of people aged 18 or over found that "61 percent of self-described geeks said they would buy and wear a smart watch," and "56 percent would do the same with smart glasses." Perhaps even more interesting, 37 percent of non-geeks were also interested in smart watches, and 35 percent were interested in smart glasses....But where is the trend going?

When asked whether he’s looked into Google Glass, Dorsey had the following to say:“I don’t think glasses are the answer. I think it might be a 10-year answer, but not in the next five years. Maybe if they’re in sunglasses or what not. I think the movement you see around Fitbit, Up and FuelBand, that seems to be the next step in wearable. So something on the wrist that feels natural, almost feels a bit like jewelry. Glasses are very compelling and I think it’s an amazing technology, but I just can’t imagine my mom wearing them right now. What is the value of Glass?”

Google Glass was announced last year at Google’s I/O developer conference but the consumer version of the product isn’t expected to be released until the end of 2013, or a year-ish from now, depending on who you talk to. Apple has yet to announce its rumored iWatch product, but some rumors have pointed to a late 2013 or early 2014 release date.

When asked specifically, whether he had more faith in the rumored iWatch, Dorsey replied: ”(Laughs.) I don’t know, I think there’s a lot going on. The Pebble watch I think is pretty compelling as well.”...