From the brick phones of yesteryear, to yesterday’s laptops, to the mobile phenomenon in your pocket today…it’s all about evolving technology.

I grew up with sisters, and a few years ago, I had a multi-million dollar idea for a small device guys would step on to lift the toilet seat up, and then close it after use. I called it, “The Gentleman.”

But that’s as far as it went, because here’s the thing about evolving technology. A quick two months later, another entrepreneur came up with a different way to do the same thing, on Oprah–a perfect example of constantly evolving technology.

This is important to remember about evolution in terms of the Internet of Things (IoT). If you put a thousand people together to address a problem, you’ll see lots of unique approaches, but few truly unique ideas.

And, if you think we’re seeing an increase in novelty, what you’re really seeing is largely due to the massive number of increasingly connected “things” bringing us closer to what some call artificial intelligence. More on this to follow.

In this way, IoT remains the first broad spectrum application of technology that gives every-thing an ability to join the larger ‘conversation.’ If you think about it, even the tire pressure most of us take for granted is a validation of technological evolution.

Because I come from farming people, I can’t help note evolving technology’s effect on today’s farmers, who now act more like computer scientists using Pico-meters and probes to map, measure and log crop Ph-levels. As a result, nowadays crop yields are astronomical. From North America to South Africa, a typical commercial acre produces nearly 17 times more than an acre at the turn of the 19th century.

The Internet of Things makes us more global, but we’re really just starting out, despite voices who say otherwise. IoT may be opportunity for quick investment value, but as I’ve said before, it’s more than that. Industry now is just a glimpse of IoT’s future worth.

In another farming example, all too often we see small family farms uprooted by corporations and corporate farms, who quite honestly, never had it better. That’s technology evolution worth consideration.

Thinking of the evolution of technology as an inexorable law, Internet of Things is bigger than any market or company. It may even be bigger than a country or nation.

But remember, unlike nations or countries, evolution doesn’t have expectations.

Brad Walters, the IoT Guru