IBM 'Internet of Things' Video Is Almost Too CoolIBM 'Internet of Things' Video Is Almost Too Cool

Can a 5-minute animated video capture a technology company's global vision? IBM's "The Internet Of Things" YouTube clip is inspiring and compelling and the sort of fresh thinking more tech companies should try, although I did crack up during the final segment as some massively Deepak-Choprah-overdosed guy buzzes about what the planet is saying and the universe is hearing.Most of the animated video is a spirited mix of voice-overs describing the rise of intelligent and interconnected instrumentation in everything from tech devices to waterways and appliances and radiators spewing out signals to the 2 billion people who'll be online within the next couple of years. And I liked a couple of metaphors that were used to describe the resulting information flow: a "global data field" and the planet's "central nervous system."

The IBM video touches on a few of IBM's key "Smarter Planet" themes without being overtly commercial about them, such as traffic, power grids, appliances. I'd recommend it as a piece to be shared across not only IT teams but with colleagues responsible for thinking about where technology is headed, and how any company that wants to remain competitive needs to think about the implications and applications of that technology in entirely new ways.

But be careful during the last 30 seconds or so as a hippy-dippy type steps up to the edge with his description of Earth as an "information-creation-and-transmission" system and then tumbles over it in a metaphorical jumble of, like, totally cosmic sensory awareness.

Even so, "The Internet of Things" is well worth a look.