The mesh, coming soon to a device near you, will change your technology experiences. Actually, it’s not just coming to a device—it’s coming to every device, even those that aren’t currently wired. Like the web, nobody and everybody owns the mesh, but many will contribute a device, processor, or storage appliance to create a scalable, computational ecosystem. This ubiquitous network of interconnected devices and services promises to radically change business and the economy as a whole.
The pattern of what the mesh can do is comparable to what the internet has done over the past quarter century. The internet is sprouting multibillion-dollar industries that didn’t even exist in the age of dial-up. For example, the world’s largest hotelier today owns no real estate and the world’s largest taxi service doesn’t own a single car.
While the patterns are similar, the mesh’s impact will be more deeply felt. This is, in part, because of its ubiquity, as networked devices will include not just terminals and handhelds but wearables and every other part of your home, business, machinery, and public infrastructure. The other difference is that the mesh’s transformations will be wrought much more quickly than those brought about by the growth of the World Wide Web.
How can this be? Partly because the mesh is inherently decentralized and may be crowdsourced, in contrast to the early days of the web. Furthermore, the technology for the mesh already exists and is widespread—we don’t have to invent the technology; we just put it to work in a new way. You can already see rapid adoption of new applications and use cases as cycles of technological transformation have shortened from decades to years to months.
If the change is as fast and profound as we envision, those who don’t strategically think ahead will miss out on enormous opportunities. It’s past time to get your head around what the mesh might mean. It’s imminent. The time is now to prepare yourself—prepare your organization—to leverage the profound economic and operational benefits from mesh.