THE INTERNET OF THINGS

VOCABULARY LIST
accessible
connectivity
consumer
digital data
embedded
hacker
internet-connected
internet-enabled
leak
package
processor
repackage
sensor
smart home

PRE-READING SECTION
Answer the following questions
1. Are you a coach potato?
2. Can we stay connected via wireless devices? If yes, how?
3. I know what you ate yesterday. What will home sensors reveal about your life?
4. How do wearable devices (wearables) help to improve our lifestyles?

READING SECTION
Read and translate the text below
How many engineers does it take to change a light bulb? Depends on whether or not that
light bulb is connected to Wi-Fi.
Light bulbs, along with refrigerators, coffee makers, microwave ovens, baby monitors,
security cameras, speakers, televisions, and thermostats have transformed from ordinary objects
into conduits for the future. Embedded with sensors that see, hear, and touch the world around
them, they can turn physical information into digital data. Collectively, these devices – and
there are billions of them around the world – make up the internet of things. In the "smart
home" the internet-enabled gadgets liberate us from our chores, give us back some of our time,
and add a dash of novelty to ordinary experiences. The real promise of the internet of things is
making our physical surroundings accessible to our digital computers, putting sensors on
everything in the world and translating it into a digital format. Internet-connected objects could
be the key to unlocking predictions about everything from consumer behavior to climate events,
but the same objects could invite hackers into personal spaces and leak intimate data.
Depending on who you ask, the growing internet of things either represents the promise of
technology or that which will be our technological undoing.
The term internet of things itself was coined in 1999, when Kevin Ashton put it in a
PowerPoint presentation for Procter and Gamble. Ashton described a system where sensors
acted like the eyes and ears of a computer – an entirely new way for computers to see, hear,
touch, and interpret their surroundings. As home internet became ubiquitous and Wi-Fi sped up,
the dream of the smart home started to look more like a reality. Companies began to introduce
more and more of these inventions: "smart" coffee makers to brew the perfect cup, ovens that
bake cookies with precision timing, and refrigerators that automatically restocked expired milk.
As sensors became cheaper, these internet-connected devices became more affordable for more
consumers. And the invention of smart plugs meant that even ordinary objects could become
"smart" – or, at least, you could turn them on and off with your phone.
Any IoT system today contains a few basic components. First, there's the thing outfitted
with sensors. These sensors could be anything that collects data, like a camera inside a smart
refrigerator or an accelerometer that tracks speed in a smart running shoe. In some cases,
sensors are bundled together to gather multiple data points: a Nest thermostat contains a
thermometer, but also a monitor sensor; it can adjust the temperature of a room when it senses
that nobody's in it. To make sense of this data, the device has some kind of network
connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, or satellite) and a processor where it can be stored and
analyzed. From there, the data can be used to trigger an action – like ordering more milk when
the carton in the smart refrigerator runs out, or adjusting the temperature automatically given a
set of rules.
The internet of things brings all the benefits of the internet to items like light bulbs and
thermostats, but it brings all the problems of the internet, too. Now that people have their
speakers, television sets, refrigerators, alarm clocks, toothbrushes, light bulbs, doorbells, baby
monitors, and security cameras connected to the Wi-Fi, nearly every device in the house can be
compromised, or rendered useless. Consider the whims of internet connectivity: When your
Wi-Fi goes down, so do your devices. Router problems? That means you can't turn on the heat
with your smart thermostat, or unlock your smart door lock. many of these devices also run on
proprietary software – meaning, if their manufacturer goes bunk, gets sold, or stops issuing
software updates, your clever little budget becomes a useless hunk of plastic.
Risk of bricking aside, connecting things to the internet also leaves those objects, and
everything else on your Wi-Fi network more vulnerable to hackers. The risk isn't just that some
prankster breaks into your smart washing machine and upsets the spin cycle. A hacked smart
lock means someone can open your front door. Hack into enough smart water heaters and you
can send a city into a massive blackout. And one vulnerable device can compromise the whole
network. The threat of hacks on internet-connected devices remains a big problem, both for
companies and for consumers. In 2019, Amazon faced a $5 million class action lawsuit from
customers who alleged that their internet-connected Ring doorbells had been left open to
cyberattacks. Those customers shared stories of hackers who, through their doorbells, harassed
them and demanded ransom money. (The company denied blame, claiming instead that it was
the customers' fault for using weak passwords.)
Then there's the question of privacy. If cameras and microphones are studded around your
home, they are definitely watching and listening to you. Everything in the internet of things
collects data – and all that data has value. In a recent study, researchers found that 72 of the 81
IoT devices they surveyed had shared data with a third party unrelated to the original
manufacturer. That means the finer details of your personal life – as depicted by your smart TV,
or your smart speaker – can be repackaged and sold to someone else. Google and Apple both
admitted, in 2019, that the recordings captured by their smart speakers are reviewed by
contractors. An ever-expanding internet of things doesn't just have consequences for personal
privacy. It can create a network of computer eyes and ears everywhere we go.

AFTER-READING SECTION
1. Match the voice assistants with their manufacturers
Google Assistant Apple
Siri Microsoft
HomeKit Amazon
Alexa Google
Cortrana
2. Answer the following questions
1. What is the Internet of Things?
2. How does it impact our lives?
3. Why are objects on your Wi-Fi vulnerable to cyberattacks? How can you protect yourself
from leaking personal data?
4. What problems will you encounter if your Wi-Fi goes down?
5. What do you regard as the most interesting use of the Internet of Things?
3. Match the term with its definition
1) sensor
2) embedded
3) Wi-Fi
4) router
5) data
6) repackage
7) hack

a) an electronic device or object capable of detecting real-life conditions and interpreting what
it has detected into data that the device can understand;
b) hardware device designed to receive, analyze and move incoming packets to another
network;
c) write a custom program to break another computer's security software;
d) an object, software, or hardware that is independent and does not need an external program
or device to run;
e) a series of bits that have the value one or zero; a term used to describe any data transmitted
over the Internet wirelessly by the device;
f) a technology that allows computers and other devices to communicate via a wireless signal;
g) create a customized installation with all your settings and inputs out of an already packaged
installation
4. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box
Google Assistant
follow-up entry multiple launch reacting profiles wake voice

Google Assistant has made incredible progress since its 2016 (1) _____ and is probably the
most advanced and dynamic of the assistants out there. Google has spread Assistant far and
wide, not only on its own hardware, but through partnerships with other companies that sees
Google Assistant in a huge range of devices, from fridges to headphones to speakers and cars.
Google Assistant is Google's (2) _____ assistant. It supports both text or voice entry and it will
follow the conversation whichever (3) _____ method you're using. Google Assistant offers
voice commands, voice searching, and voice-activated device control, letting you complete a
number of tasks after you've said the "OK Google" or "Hey Google" (4) _____ words. It is
designed to give you conversational interactions. Continued Conversation means you don't have
to say "Hey Google" for (5) _____ requests. Instead, once you've started talking to Google, it
listens for a response without needing a trigger phrase all the time. Google can also recognise
voice (6) _____ for different people, so it knows who is talking to it and can tailor the responses
accordingly. You can also ask for (7) _____ things at the same time. As Google Assistant
knows you and understands context, it will react in an informed or smart way. That's important
as it gives voice control a lot more power and moves it on from only (8) _____ to specific
phrases or commands. It's designed to be more than just reactive.
5. Make word combinations from the words below. Use them in your own sentences
1) access a) mobility
2) network b) projects
3) pilot c) information
4) home d) communications
5) vehicle-to-vehicle e) interface
6) smart f) network
6. Choose the right option
1. IoT objects can be controlled remotely/physically/possibly to allow direct integration with
computer systems, which results in economic benefit and improved efficiency for users.
2. Make sure you know what you're signing at/off/up for.
3. As for errors, you should definitely watch/check/supervise the numbers in your smart apps
from time to time.
4. You need to be sure the information you are collecting is valid/secure/stored well.
5. Any platform that is in contract/implementation/communication with devices should support
the major communication protocols in use today.
6. The data gathered and sensed by IoT cells/devices/patches needs to be communicated in
order to even start turning it into actionable information.
7. Consumers are waiting for smarter generations/relations/platforms of wearables, which are
able to fulfil more functions without being too dependent from smartphones.
8. The IoT Tech Expo Global event in London will bring up/into/together key industries from
across the globe for two days of top-level content and discussion.
9. Only 26 percent of all respondents from the UK manufacturing industry said they had no
plans to compute/ gather/implement devices to collect, analyze and act upon data.
10. Most industry sectors are thankful government hasn't rushed into/onto/up to IoT
rulemaking.
7. Give your opinion on the following statements
* One day, the IoT will become the internet of everything. As Ray Bradbury in 1950 wrote, all
the people might disappear – but the smart homes, preparing meals and sweeping the floors,
will live on.
* The IoT promises to make our environment – our homes and offices and vehicles – smarter,
more measurable, and...chattier.