I'm tired of 5Gwhiz & Internet of Stuff

I was inspired to write this blog after reading "In My Opinion" in Microwave Product Digest." The author discusses the 5th Generation" (5G) cellular standard, and it's evil twin, the Internet of Things (IoT). When you dig into both topics, you will find out the boring facts about the massive processing and data storage that will be needed to run these things, as well as the processor technologies needed. Companies are desperately searching for ways to make money off of these mysterious acronyms-turned-nouns: 5G and IoT.

Here's one man's opinion:

"While all previous wireless generations were wildly promoted before they actually appeared, the fifth generation is setting new benchmarks in flamboyance as the standards themselves won't be ready until 2019 and the 5G-enabled products aren't likely to hit the streets until a year later," says Barry Manz in Microwave Product Digest this month. (It is not online yet.)

With Intel's recent gut-wrenching announcement that the Personal Computer is, in fact, dead. They now seek higher ground in the mysterious IoT market. But not so fast.

“Most of the IoT volume will come from really cheap processors that Intel is not really good at making,” said [Linley] Gwennap. “Intel will make money on IoT by making more servers for the cloud not smart lightbulbs,” he said. Indeed, all sides are bullish on Intel’s data center group which is “going gangbusters,” said [Nathan] Brookwood. “They are more in position to do a top-to-bottom rack architecture than anyone, and they have a more unified approach than IBM,” he said. (Source: EE Times)

Going back to Barry again, and the reason I was prompted to write this blog...he says:

"5G also extends the types of products it encompasses beyond the smartphone and tablet to include man-to-machine and machine-to-machine devices, finally making it possible for IoT to be realized on a large scale. But rather than simply enabling these devices via the carrier wireless network, it will act as an aggregator of sorts under which fall the various current standards currently competing for supremacy, but also impede IoT's incredible potential," Barry Manz, Manz Communications, Inc.

In other words, don't expect your refrigerator to tell your smartwatch when it is too cold inside. Not yet.