Evolution of the IoT
It is not very clear exactly who coined the term IoT. Kevin Ashton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Ashton) supposedly coined the phrase Internet of Things while working for Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1999. Kevin was then working on an RFID (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio-frequency_identification) initiative by P&G, and proposed taking the system online to the Internet.
In 2005, UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (http://www.itu.int/), published its first report on IoT. In 2008, the global non-profit organization IPSO Alliance (http://www.ipso-alliance.org/) was launched to serve the various communities seeking to establish the IoT by providing coordinated marketing efforts available to the general public. IPSO currently has more than 50 member companies including Google, Cisco, Intel, Texas Instruments, Bosch, Atmel. In 2012, IoT Consortium (IoTC) - http://iofthings.org/, was founded to educate technology firms, retailers, insurance companies, marketers, media companies, and the wider business community about the value of IoT. IoTC has more than 60 member companies in the area of hardware, software, and analytics, a few of them being Logitech, Node, and SigFox.
A 2014 Forbes article by Gil Press says the following:
"Gartner estimates that IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion in 2020. IDC forecasts that the worldwide market for IoT solutions will grow from $1.9 trillion in 2013 to $7.1 trillion in 2020".
Why the IoT has become a household word now
The IoT has, in recent years, become quite popular and an everyday phenomenon, primarily due to IoT-related hardware, software, accessories, sensors, and Internet connections becoming very affordable and user friendly. An explosion in the availability of free Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and Software Development Kits (SDKs) have made programming and deployment of the IoT really simple and easy. Thus, IoT enthusiasts range from school kids, hobbyists, and non-programmers to embedded software engineers specialized in this area.
