# Newish buzzphrase: IOT = Internet of Things. What do I need to know about it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 3, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newish-buzzphrase-iot-internet-of-things-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-it/805809 "2018-01-03T19:06:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 13
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newish-buzzphrase-iot-internet-of-things-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-it/805809/13 "2018-01-03T20:03:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I have several very old, definitely pre-IOT [potholders](http://www.ikea.com/us/en/images/products/iris-pot-holder-gray__0150595_PE309123_S4.JPG) here, that are starting to fall apart with age. It’s clearly time for me to get new potholders, as the ones I have are no way upgradeable. Should I be looking into IOT-enabled potholders? Why or why not? What advantages would they have for me? > > (Note: I do very little cooking.) I’ll give a serious answer to an amusing post, because I think it’s a useful way to think about how the IoT will develop. As of today, there is no reason for an IoT potholder. Any IoT functionality is clearly unnecessary and frankly ridiculous. But that was true of many current IoT devices 15 years ago - the utility of having your refrigerator connected to the internet would have been a joke (and still is for many people). Ten years from now, it will be as standard on refrigerators as temperature control. So brainstorming about an IoT potholder…what if it recorded the time I put a dish in the oven and automatically set a timer for me? What if it detected the temperature of the pan, calculated the cooling rate, and notified me when the cake was cool enough to turn out? These are [del]probably[/del] stupid ideas, but my point is that there will be plenty of IoT devices in the future that we aren’t imagining now. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newish-buzzphrase-iot-internet-of-things-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-it/805809)._