For years, the cool kids in Silicon Valley have been going on about the "Internet of Things."
The "Internet of Things," they'll tell you, is a massive new opportunity in which all the stuff all around you will get fitted with Internet-enabled radio chips and chat wirelessly with each other and your phones, computers, and other gadgets.
In case that description doesn't get you hyperventilating, the cool kids will give you a specific example of how much your life will be improved in this glorious future.
The Internet of Things, they'll say, will usher in the day when your refrigerator knows what you are eating and tells you what food you need. Once this capability is meshed with your smartphone, the cool kids will continue, your refrigerator will make your grocery list for you!
Well, I'd be happy to have my refrigerator make my grocery list for me. But that's not something I'm drumming my fingers waiting for. And I confess that I've had the same tepid reaction to most of the other examples I've heard about how amazing my life is going to be when we finally get cranking with the Internet of Things.
But that has all changed now.