The Spark Gap - Episode 8
Jacob Rosenthal, an engineering consultant working with companies like Octoblue, explains the current state of the Internet of Things, noting it is often a rebranding of existing connectivity technologies. He discusses the trade-offs between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy, highlighting issues with power consumption, security, and proprietary firmware stacks on platforms like Spark, Electric Imp, and Pinocchio. The conversation covers the shift of intelligence from embedded firmware to cloud-based JavaScript, raising concerns about privacy, data ownership, and the replacement of embedded engineers by web developers.