We’ve written a few times before about the ‘Internet of Things.’ There are a ton of examples that are out there right now, leveraging data and making lives easier. Others, like an alarm clock that will actually listen when you lament “Just five more minutes” still seem far off (and sound prohibitively expensive).
That ‘prohibitively expensive’ part is important, even if it’s tucked into parentheses. When you think of the Internet of Things, you think of opening your wallet and dumping all of its contents out in front of a cashier, hoping they’ll accept a flattened piece of Doublemint along with whatever legal tender you might have.
It doesn’t help that many connected items are purposely designed to be sleek and unobtrusive. It’s a strange phenomenon to spend $200 and come away with a rubber wristband (no offense to the Fitbit). Americans are conditioned to think that more money equals more product – like Supersizing your meal (an idea they should revive). Most technology is scaled down and for good reason, but the perception of ‘way too expensive’ won’t seem to go away.
How does $9 for a computer sound?
No, this is not a Craigslist meet-me-in-the-abandoned-warehouse-I-promise-this-is-a-real-computer type computer. This is C.H.I.P.
C.H.I.P. is a tiny but powerful computer that is gaining steam on Kickstarter. It has a 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage, and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth.
Again, it is NINE DOLLARS. That will buy you a 40-piece box of Chicken McNuggets. Or it will buy you a computer.
What does this mean for businesses? It means it’s time to get on board early. Nine dollars means that computers like C.H.I.P. will continue getting created and distributed. That means that producing smart products is going to become rapidly easier to do. If companies can make their products ‘smart’ and ‘connected’ inexpensively, they’re going to do it and they’ll reap the benefits of a market that demands products that keep pace with their sensibilities.
Take a look at your product. Could it be smarter or more connected? Hint: yes. What are you presently doing to adapt to the modern consumer? It’s becoming more affordable to innovate. It’s becoming more affordable to own smart products.
“It’s too expensive” is no longer an excuse.
