I work at a market research&#x2F;consulting firm that specializes in the embedded devices market. This means we cover any semi-specialized device with a CPU that is not a desktop, laptop, or tablet.<p>The consumer-facing home IoT stuff (Nest, smart-fridge, smart-car etc.) gets a lot of press because it&#x27;s exciting and it appeals to the least common denominator - anyone from an electrical engineer to a nanny can see how these devices might affect their lives.<p>Most of the (pretty astronomical) growth of the embedded device market is driven by the applications of industrial connectivity. Think aerospace &amp; defense, automotive, medical, municipal, retail automation. The industries that don&#x27;t make for sexy headlines.<p>Ultimately, I believe the entire IoT movement is going to contribute substantially to the economy in the form of cost-savings. Companies will be able to access and analyze a lot more data which will hopefully enable leaner operations due to process refinement and resource conservation. It&#x27;s a good time to be in the security and analytics business.<p>While cost savings are great for the bottom line, we also need to find a way to create new markets and generate new, useful products. Hopefully the government has invested enough in R&amp;D to enable the next internet to begin to take root sometime soon, whatever that may be.<p>From my perspective, it would make sense that virtual reality would be a huge paradigm shift in the way that we create and consume information, which seems to be an underlying theme driving many advances in technology and overall quality of life.<p>IoT seems to be the maturation of internet connectivity - what&#x27;s next in the world of technology?