The Internet Of (Consequential) Things

For about 10 hours a week, I play one of the most boring video games ever. That game is measured by the gauges in my hybrid hatchback, which tells me how I'm doing with my efforts to go farther on a tank of gas. The game has no great prize or winner; just moments of small victory when the rates go up, and I've taken to dialing back the air conditioning, taking corners at drifting speed, and using the cruise control more and more on highways to better my score. (Mostly while driving alone.)

All of this has likely made me a safer driver, since I'm more attentive. That's all to the good, since driving might be the only activity that I engage in that could cause me serious injury. (Wondering how we're going to get this into marketing and advertising? Don't worry, it's coming.)

Currently, this habit  has very limited impact on anything beyond, well, how much I pay for gas. I don't have an IoT device on my car, so my habits aren't communicated to my insurance company. Even if they were (Progressive has a device), driving isn't in a feedback loop with your credit rating. But I do have a smartphone in my pocket, and a toll booth transponder on the windshield, so it's not as if these activities couldn't be tracked. The potential for this exists, and so does the infrastructure. It's just the last mile of consumer acceptance that needs to be navigated. Which is were marketing and advertising comes in. (See? We got here eventually. Just took the scenic route.)

This is, However, a pretty serious last mile. If the way you drive is tracked and monitored in a way that cuts your insurance payments, many consumers will accept it as a benefit. But there's a stick that comes with that carrot, and it's this: what if you could get traffic tickets without ever having a conversation with a police officer?

Well, you can already. Just drive through an automated toll booth without a transponder. But for things like speeding, failing to come to a full stop on signals, and so on... this all seems like a new and significant tax burden. And how these devices and convenience have consequences.

Now, let's go further, into the realm of wearables.

Currently, individuals self-report their habits to their insurance companies and healthcare providers, with points like their smoking habits, alcohol consumption, fitness, diet and sleeping all subject to personal bias and inaccuracy. We all know that we should be completely honest about these habits to receive the best care, but when honestly might cost you more in premiums, it's easy to shade those points. And in a time of increasing pressure on employment and rising health care premiums, the occasional cigar or other choice coming back to bite you in the workplace is a serious point.

That's why, in a recent survey of workers in the UK, "free" wearables provided by an employer were seen as a non-starter, because the data would be used against the individual. It's also why, despite decades of "cyber slacking" at the job, many employers turn a blind eye to on the clock usage of social media or viewing non-work Web sites, so long as the usage doesn't become disruptive.

Selling the benefits of the IoT was never going to be that easy. After all, it's new tech, and as such, has a high barrier to entry for bleeding edge technology. But when it's served with a side of fear -- inevitably stoked by mass media -- that's going to be a real challenge.

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