The theme of this year’s LeWeb conference in Paris was the Internet of Things, how about that! A few months ago we would have hesitated to mention the term “Internet of Things” as it didn’t seem to mean anyThing to even the technically inclined. Yet today, that term has become a buzzword in the tech and startup communities. Thanks LeWeb for helping spread the word!
Having had the pleasure of attending, I must commend the event organisers, Loic and Geraldine Le Meur, on the execution, the speaker lineup and the catering! It’s a nice touch when the cheese is blue rather than orange. 😉
The biggest news to come out of the event: Instagram’s Twitter card removal. Certainly not a euro-IoT themed story, but it was supported by a fair bit of discussion around the future of social networking and the protectionist strategies of the giants. Probably a good discussion for the IoT to learn from: it’s not difficult to imagine Things being connected to different networks for different reasons all with insufficient integration. At least that’s where it looks like the fledgling IoT is headed right now.
Euro vs. US was an underlying theme, with questions about when Europe will produce a Facebook, if at all. It seems that even with EU integration, cross-border expansion is far from trivial, and labour laws get in the way of the “hire fast, fire faster” mantra. The discussion simply strengthened my affinity for Montreal. It’s good to sit on top of an accessible US market and enjoy some socio-economic advantages as well as cheese that’s the right colour.
And on the theme of the Internet of Things, well, things are moving forward. Several IoT startups had noteworthy announcements, and the list of connected things included lights, plants, electrical outlets, thermostats and even brainwave-sensors. Some very cool stuff, but certainly nothing to make anyone say “OMG this changes everyThing!” Had that been the case, it surely would have demoted the I-can’t-tweet-a-picture-of-my-lunch story from the headlines.
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