Talk given at the Dots conference on September 3rd aand Nordic Digital Business Summit 2014 in Helsinki on September 4th 2014.

1. Damned if you do,
Damned if you don’t.
(on commerce and the
internet of things)

2. Formerly
Tinker London / tinkerlondon.com
RIG London / riglondon.com
Now
Designswarm / designswarm.com
Good Night Lamp / goodnightlamp.com
IOT Angels / iotangels.com
IOT London Meetup / @iotlondon

4. I will talk about “making” at the
cost of privacy
How we think software & data is
where the value lies but hardware
is the killer app.
And why Finland should get more
involved.

5. Why“making”?
Because the Arduino.

6. Since 2007, cheap, often open
source hardware and software
electronics prototyping platforms
have flooded the market.
The RaspberryPi sold 1M units in
its first week in the UK.

7. Who is it for?
• Product designers
• Engineers
• Software developers tired of the
web
• Artists
• R&D departments
• Products companies

8. What impact did it have?
It accelerated the production of
new product dreams, ideas and
prototypes.
Crowdfunding then helped market
them and fund production of some.

10. 10 years ago Kevin Ashton coined
the term Internet of Things
He originally meant it in the
context of RFID.
Now it implies all the technologies
that allow products to be
connected online. (wifi, GSM, BT,
radio,etc)

11. That connectivity changes
everything but doesn’t solve
everything.
Back to the makers, what are they
building?
Smart locks, pet trackers, wifi-connected
baby monitors, smart,
smart toothbrushes and many
more.

12. And at the heart of most of these
interaction?

13. Before 2007 most of the early
internet of things ideas were
genuinely screen-less.

14. Now the mobile phone is a middle
man for everyday products.

15. And objects become gateways to a
mobile experience.
SmartStones / Nivea armband

16. The rise of wearables

17. And traceable behaviour…I mean
data capture.
Jawbone

18. In lots of different ways.
Ringly / Kovertdesigns

19. Sproutling

20. So we went from creepy
Ankle tracker for law enforcement.

21. To “fun” in just a few years
Kidzon by LG

22. Getting us used to sharing so much
data other industries can benefit
from

24. Until …

25. Ideas are getting “to market” too
quickly.
We are living a new age of science-fiction
fuelled not by literature, but
by crowd-funding, startup culture
and makerfaires.

26. But ideas are also dying too quickly.
We aren’t encouraging products to
really find their market fit.
3 months on a product project isn’t
enough (the average accelerator
period).
Partnerships take a long time to
build.

27. We can’t be unwillingly designing for
obsolescence. We have to build in
desire.
Most activity trackers will be used
for only 6 months.
Smart phones flood eBay with
limited interest.

29. Meaning can’t mean wasting.
Design for dis-assembly hasn’t been
shown to these new entrepreneurs.
Or Cradle to Cradle thinking.
This is a whole new opportunity to
bring design to the fore.

30. And sometimes really the answer
isn’t hardware.
LG smart fridge / Pntry app by designswarm

31. Price-sensitivity is difficult early on
but it builds stronger businesses.
Good Night Lamp by designswarm

32. Standards should be created around
connectivity to inform consumers of
their rights and interactions.

33. Knowledge is at hand locally too.
Know/Cards by Tina Aspiala (eat.fi founder)

34. Why the title of this talk?
It’s a bandwagon. There is hype. But
please get involved.
Just remember innovation doesn’t
need to happen at the cost of
design, user needs and solving real
problems.

35. Otherwise we’re back to this.

36. Thanks!
(Anyone want to set up an Internet
of things meetup? )
alex@designswarm.com
@iotwatch
@designswarm
@iotlondon