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The articles of Cassandra Crossing I'm under license CC BY-SA 4.0 | Cassandra Crossing is a column created by Marco Calamari with the "nom de plume" of Cassandra, born in 2005.

An old article by Cassandra on IoT that seems to have aged particularly well!

This article was written on March 6, 2019 from Cassandra

Cassandra Crossing 435/ Frankenthings

What to really fear in the times of the internet of things

A few days ago Digital Agenda published "I give up? A story in the times of the internet of things”, a "digital" story by Edoardo Fleischner about a future “prevarication” towards the owner by intelligent objects in cahoots with each other.

Although enjoyable and well written, the story suggests that the future danger of the Internet of Things is the same as that of Frankenstein's monster, the creature that rebels against its creator, a myth repeated with infinite variations in many works of science fiction literature.

If taken literally, perhaps unconsciously, this would not be a good "suggestion" towards the reader.

In short, an enjoyable piece but a disservice to those who consider its underlying approach realistic.

Already in 2014, as well explained in the Wired article “Why Tech's Best Minds Are Very Worried About the Internet of Things”, the concerns of IoT experts were rather the cybersecurity of the networks to which the objects connected and the privacy of their owners.

In fact, the greatest danger of the IoT, confirmed by the latest news released by the sector, is obviously not that of an IoT of "Frankenthings" that enslave their owner/creator, but exactly the opposite.

The greatest danger is that of objects similar to parasites, small, creeping, invisible and which whisper among themselves and with the outside, almost imperceptible objects, in short "ubiquitous" like Mark Weiser already in 1991 he had "prophesied" speaking of "computers disappearing into the fabric of everyday reality".

Indeed, those with a good memory will perhaps remember that Weiser had also spoken of "calm technologies", "quiet technologies" that do their job causing minimal disturbance, possibly none.

In short, invisible technologies that can also be used by others without the users' perception.

Wanting to continue the parallel with science fiction and horror literature, the IoT of the future could be more similar to the dark forces evoked in "The one who whispered in the dark” by HP Lovecraft.

“Dark forces” that do not come from parallel dimensions and ancient times, but rather from cyberspace and economic pressures; from "surveillance capitalism" and "data capitalism" which are and will be the guiding forces of the IoT, with all due respect to the optimists of the moment, and with very little satisfaction from the virtuous and prophetic paranoids.

Marco Calamari