The Internet of Things offers a vast world of potential. As it stands now, physical and digital designers have already developed about 60% of its potential value, and are working on the other 40% of its potential value. By 2020, it’s predicted that 50 billion things, and more than 5 billion people will be connected to the Internet. By 2025, it could be worth $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion.
It has also created an amazing marketing opportunity for digital agency Netflix.
As the cultural status of “Netflix and chill” continues to grow and grow, some Internet of Things designers have created a Netflix and Chill button, which the eponymous digital agency have fully embraced.
“The Switch,” as Netflix’s PR department dubbed it, is a simple piece of Do-It-Yourself technology. All it is is a box with a button. If you press that button, it’ll dim your lights, turn on your TV, boot up Netflix, and even order pizza.
The Switch uses a Particle Core, which is a basic computer. The whole, entire design is available online, and the TV and movie streaming service even offers a complete step by step guide to building your own.
What’s neat about the whole DIY approach is that you don’t have to make it follow those exact specification. With a bit of tinkering, your own Switch could potentially start up Hulu instead, or order Chinese instead, or even get the fire going (if you have an electric fire).
So while analysts and entrepreneurs foresee the amazing possibilities of the Internet of Things — all of the energy efficiency improvements, health tracking, and home improvements — others are using the Internet of Things to make some fun, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
This is not the only odd thing to come out of the Internet of Things either. If you know of any other odd creations, feel free to share them in the comments, and let us know what you think.