Episode 25: Le Web and the iPad Mini tortured in Paris
It's the last episode of the year, but we're going out with wine, cheese, the Internet of Things, and an international torture test.
At the Le Web conference in Paris in December, the theme was a phrase I wish I'd thought of: the Internet of Things. The show was all about our connected present and future, a world in which all our devices are connected to each other, to us, and to the great Data Cloud in the sky. I interviewed entrepreneurs, futurists, designers, and big company names about what that future will hold and when it might come about for a special Future Tech package in this episode.
The most interesting thing to come out of those interviews, to me, was that the likelihood of a smoothly connected world of devices happening anytime soon seemed to be dependent on whom you asked. Microsoft, Nest's Tony Fadell (previously of Apple), and other big-name companies all seem skeptical about the immediacy of the Internet of Things. But if you ask an entrepreneur, a blogger, or a hopeful journalist (me), our connected future is close and getting closer every day.
We'll be discussing this topic in more depth at CES in January in Las Vegas--more on that in a separate blog post--but enjoy our package from Paris in the meantime. Maybe pour yourself a glass of wine to go with it!
And it would have been a shame to waste my time in Paris without bringing along a gadget to break. After all, many mishaps can befall a poor device on the road, from airplane disasters to spills to drops on a rainy street. The iPad Mini joined me in Paris, and, well, let's just say it didn't have quite as much fun as I did.
And that is it for Always On in 2012, I'm sad to say. I really cannot thank you all enough for the support and the love you've given this show over our last 25 episodes. The Mailbag (even though it's missing from this week's show) is the highlight of my week, and I am really looking forward to more--much more--in 2013.
Stay tuned to CNET in early January, too, we'll be doing live torture tests on stage at CES, and we just got our final fire marshall approvals to have liquid nitrogen up there. Don't worry: it'll be live-streamed. See you then, and happy holidays, everyone!