Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
If there were any doubt that IoT is for real, one fact ought to dispel it: For the first time, U.S. mobile operators are adding IoT connections to their networks faster than they’re adding phones.
In fact, cars alone are getting connected to cellular networks faster than anything else, according to statistics compiled by Chetan Sharma Consulting for the second quarter of this year. Counting all U.S. carriers, about 1.4 million cars got connected to cellular networks in the quarter, compared with 1.2 million phones and less than 900,000 tablets.
The second quarter, between April and June, isn’t a high point for new phone sales like the fourth quarter, when holiday shopping hits and new iPhone models roll out. But IoT growth has been a long-term trend.
AT&T, the carrier that’s led in connected cars, has already been adding them faster than phones and tablets combined for seven consecutive quarters, says Sharma, a longtime mobile industry analyst. AT&T’s on track to reach 10 million car connections soon, he said.
For now, most of those cars have been tuning in without their drivers lifting a finger, Sharma said. It’s the car companies that are rolling out vehicles with live cellular connections, which can help them do things like monitor the condition of their cars, update the software on board, and learn things that could help them improve future models. Keeping vehicles online may also reduce the need for expensive recalls where cars have to come back into the shop.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday August 12 2016, @08:14PM
I brushed a cat a few times in my life. As I was reaching for that stupid brush one evening, it occured to me that the cat has it's own built in cat brush. If Kitty needs grooming, then Kitty needs to get busy. I've done my part to slow down the upward evolution of felines, and the downward evolution of the feline's servants. The only question in my mind is, did cats create the clever simians, or did cats just domesticate the clever simians?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday August 12 2016, @08:18PM
We domesticated one another, if you think about it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 12 2016, @10:52PM
Domestication and ownership of cats may actually be caused by a disease. Toxoplasma gondii has well-known effects on the behavior of mammals, including the seeking out of cats. People say that it doesn't have the same effect on humans, in what I surmise to the whole "people aren't animals" line of thinking. However, given the links to other mental illnesses caused by T. gondii that people share with other mammals (schizophrenia, OCD), it shouldn't be surprising that other ones turn up too. There is a pretty good article about it here: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/ [theatlantic.com] and the evidence mention in it has only gotten stronger as more experiments are done.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Saturday August 13 2016, @08:42PM
You are talking about humans and cats or about you and Runaway, getting more civilized with each other?
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday August 14 2016, @03:34AM
Humans and cats. I've been domesticated by my girlfriend and Runaway's got rabies so he's a non-starter.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday August 12 2016, @09:00PM
The cats directed the evolution of the simians for maximum comfort and heat transfer. Why else would we only have hair left where we do?