Everything changes so rapidly! We have evolved from the dial-up connection to superfast 24/7 available internet connection. We are globally connected with others, work from home, have friends on the different continents and travel super fast from one destination to another.
With all of these valuable things that the internet evolution has brought, unfortunately, comes a big issue – privacy. With 
social media and routers that hold all of our private info, imagine your coffee maker and the car having more info about you? Imagine that all of your devices are interconnected with you. It is pretty intriguing, right? That concept is called the Internet of things!
And it is an interesting concept. For those who are getting to know this idea for the first time, it could sound pretty weird. In order to understand the concept and its future, we should first define the Internet of Things.
What is the Internet of Things?
The Internet of things as an idea could lead us to a life that we could only dream of, although, it is not necessarily in a good way. The interconnectedness sounds pretty cool and exciting when you imagine the outcome and then move on with your regular life. But, imagine a day in a world where billions of your private data flow from one device to another and impact the course of your action. For example, your car is connected to your calendar, so it knows where you should be that exact day and it starts to count the best route for you to come just in time.
You are probably wondering, how in the world is this possible? Well, we should start from the basis. Internet of things is including all the devices that have an on and off switch to the Internet. That will include everything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of.
The Internet of Things and Net Neutrality
As the broadband internet has become widely available, the cost of Internet connection proportionally decreased. Furthermore, there are more devices that have WI-FI option and sensors in them, plus technology costs are going down. These conditions are a perfect foundation for the Internet of Things (IoT).
Maybe the most important factor for the IoT is net neutrality regulation. According to experts, without net neutrality the future of IoT is uncertain. But, why is that the case?
Net neutrality ensures that you can use the device you want to. Current net neutrality rules imply that the internet provider is not allowed to stop you from connecting any laptop, tablet, smartphone, or WI-FI router you prefer to your home network. However, without net neutrality, everything will change.
For example, broadband companies and cell carriers could create unfair conditions on the market. They could let internet traffic to flow faster to one brand of phone or computer over another.
Charter Communications have started testing 5G technologies in 6 cities earlier this year. It is predicted that Charter Spectrum Internet 5G network will be the first network designed to be scalable, versatile, and energy smart for the hyper-connected internet of everything world. 5G platform will impact many industries including automotive, entertainment, agriculture, manufacturing and IT. As industries are preparing for 5G, we’ll see the issue of net neutrality come to the forefront.
Let’s sum it up! If the internet providers have the power to decide which gadget or home appliance you should or shouldn’t use, they create winners and losers on the market. That would be the worst case scenario for you, competition and the future of the IoT.
Internet of things and smart cities
Basically, everything that can be connected will be connected in the future. Although it is scary and dangerous on some levels, interconnectedness can be great for the environment.
If we take a look at a broader picture, the Internet of things can be applied to things like transportation networks: "smart cities" which can help us to reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this would be helping us understand and improve how we work and live.
The truth is that the IoT allows for virtually endless opportunities and connections to take place, many of which we can't even imagine or fully understand.
Internet of things and security
Security is a big issue, and it is in the center of attention today. But, can you imagine how it would look like with billions of devices being connected together? What can people do to protect their information? Will someone be able to hack into your toaster and get access to your entire network? If we are discussing privacy and safety today, we don’t even want to know how the conversation would go if the internet of things becomes our reality.
Another logical question arises – where are they going to store that amount of data? Billions of information have to be stored somewhere, and that would be a huge challenge for the companies worldwide. So, they would have to store billions of data, to monitor, analyze and keep them safe? That is a huge challenge, and at the moment it seems almost impossible to overcome.
The future of the Internet of things is an important question today. Until they figure out how is it going to affect the way we work and live, it is up to us to educate ourselves about what IoT is and its potential impacts.