The internet of everything will use lots of really simple devices, anyone listening?

Hey, yo, time to take a careful look at the complexity of software in embedded systems.  In general, the individual CPU based units are simple and small physically.  The clock speeds don’t need to be very high, most sensors are dealing with things that exist in real world times.  Most of the time, “real-time” process is required so that the variations in CPU based devices function in rhythm with the real world.  Memory required for data storage can accomplished in megabytes, not gigabytes, and often even megabytes exceeds the data capture situations in many cases. 

Real world example: Smartwatches, most smartwatches that are in production really don’t need a lot of computing power, after they are simple receivers of information from a phone, output a signal or two to the phone and tell time, that’s it.  This is Arduino level technology here, has to be cheap, cheap  These watches are based on chips and PC boards, and they are the interesting thing about the watch, is not the watch itself rather the display, chip and PC board.  The defining watch will also define e-wearables because the PC Board will be fabricated in large numbers and the price will drop.  The programming interface will be used by thousands of clothing and jewelry manufacturers, cloud computing will be impacted by the amount of use of these cheap and easy to use boards. 

An example of the use of Cloud Computing is the Spark.IO, if it ships I have purchased a few of these devices but shipping isn’t happening till next week, if it happens.  Negativity aside, if this device really works as described then you will program it entirely from the cloud and you will be able to use the Arduino programming language.

So if you are deciding right now between things like the Netduino using C# with power processors and the Arduino which uses the “Processing” language.  Both languages are open source (yes C# is open source), but right now have to go with the Arduino.  Why?  Just lighter weight than the Netduino. 

Although the Netduino is much easier to program, but the Arduino just solves the needs of the internet of everything.  However, at the next level up from the Arduino are devices with Operating systems.  There I am still thinking about the right tools.