Many companies are now concerned to develop an overall set of standards to ensure compatibility between different products in the emerging “Internet of Things,” according to a report by Reuters today. The Internet of Things is the collective body of smart devices, which will someday soon be present throughout many houses – smart refrigerators, smart thermostats, smart ice makers, smart robotic vacuums, and so on. One potential roadblock to the development of an integrated, overall standard, however, is Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) rather hermetic ecosystem.
One of the keys to Apple’s success has been to present the world with a unified ecosystem in which all the varied form factors of devices, services, and programs are made to work in synergy. Cross-compatibility between systems running rival software such as Windows or Android is notoriously shaky, making these systems less attractive to designers, programmers, and app writers, as well as end users such as businesses.
On the other hand, iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs, and apps, among others, are all smoothly matched into a working, carefully curated whole. Each product works as a standalone, but the whole “family” of products is also fully integrated. This enables users to build complex informational systems out of relatively simple components, with the assurance of high quality and full compatibility.
This strength, however, might prove to be a disruption to the smooth development of an “Internet of Things,” or “IoT.” Somewhat resembling the 19th British policy of “Splendid Isolation,” Apple’s ecosystem is divided from the rest of the computing world by a number of proprietary design features. Such a setup is an obvious obstacle to a set of universal compatibility standards that would need to stretch across all platforms in order to be fully functional.
However, several different sets of standards seem to be emerging thanks to commercial rivalry. Apple (AAPL), seeking to keep its ecosystem intact, is developing the HomeKit standards for device compatibility. Qualcomm is developing AllJoyn, which Microsoft and a number of other powerful companies have endorsed. The IoT may be further fragmented by Intel’s current refusal to accept either set of standards, though it has not yet offered its own.
Only time will tell if Apple (AAPL) opens its doors to greater integration with other IoT developers, or remains aloof, building its own approach. Considering the Cupertino company’s market power, it is likely to have a strong voice in whether the emerging IoT standards become a universal umbrella, or remain essentially parochial and divided for the foreseeable future.
