Amazon Go-es After IRL Retail... Again

The biggest news in the IoT this last week was Amazon's announcement of their updated Brick-and-Mortar shopping experience: Amazon Go.  The major selling point is simple: check-in, grab what you want and leave.  There is no check out.  The system simply knows what you have picked up, bills your Amazon account and that's it.  It does all of this in real time while you are in the store.  There is no TSA-style sensor pad at the exit point to walk through, no scanning of bar codes or RFID tags.  It just knows.

Internet of Philosophy: Enterprise

Last week I started in on a series of articles around three implementations of the Internet of Things: Municipal, Enterprise and Consumer.  I covered off on the Municipal side of things within that opening article and this week I want to dive into what Enterprise or Commercial IoT is all about.

Enterprise Internet of Things

The Basics

When the government is installing an IoT system, they are doing it under the auspices of better serving their constituency.  Business installations are different.  They are all about maximizing return, whether that is for the business owners or for the shareholders.  While there is certainly a cost saving side to governmental IoT, that's all that there is for businesses.  If it won't increase profits, why do it?

Profits, then: the difference between expenditures and earnings.  IoT can help the businesses increase profits in two ways: lower costs per unit produced and lower liability.