Human nature has been reactive since the beginning of time.
If there is there is a need to travel farther and without necessarily indulging into too much inconvenience, we invent machines (read steam engine, cars, trains and the likes).
When there isn’t enough land space for new construction, we cut forests.
When we needed certain people to pay for our failures, we built up social structures and hierarchy.
Today, if we don’t want to avoid the inconvenience of going to a restaurant and pick up a couple of burritos and a bottle of wine, we order online (because why not, it’s so convenient).
When there is a heartbreak that even friends and family can’t fathom, we fallback on iTunes and spotify (so what if they cost an awful lot).
If this, then that.
When there is an event, there is an action, rather, a reaction.
And that’s what we will discuss today. How the concept of IFTTT (if this then that) has emerged as a requirement today. It’s so much ingrained into our psyche, that we don’t pay active attention to them anymore.
This concept has been brilliantly transformed by some into a digital platform. One such initiative has resulted in a platform like IFTTT (This is not a sponsored post, there are other competitors who are probably as good).
Our never ending needs to showcase our private lives on social media has led to requirements like “If I order take a selfie where I look attractive, then share that selfie on Instagram” (because “no one” should look better than me on my IG photos) or “When I order a pizza from Domino’s, why not share it on Facebook” (how else would you create the illusion of a happening life?).
However, there are some boring (and not so useful) cases as well. For example, “Notify me on my phone (by a text message) when my flight gets delayed” or “Switch off the lights automatically when you are not home” or “When the door lock unlocks, turn the central heating ON“.
IoT and API integration
The concept of IFTTT resonates well with this connected age of everything as a service. Our lives are event driven and all actions are API driven. Assembling all third party API’s at one place and providing an intuitive user interface can give users the power to integrate all the technologies in our lives together. Without being tech-savvy.
The use cases may be expanded into so use-cases that are only limited by human imagination. Imagine having the power to “Cover your crops before a frost” or “Automatically start charging your electric car as soon as your morning alarm goes off so that you are ready for your morning commute to work“. There are many such applications. There are many such cool ideas that may be possible to achieve by leveraging such platforms. (If you are really interested, here is one such post that I stumbled upon).
As we progress through the 21st century, the abundance of technology in our lives surmounts. The digital age is the age of connectivity and the future is reactive.
Wisdombox 