Blogging - Technology, IoT & Automation ?

[AceInfinity]

So this is a bit of a collective question for my own personal intellect after thinking about this.

I've been interested in slowly getting back into blogging and I've had a lot of people ask me to release the hidden secrets of the automation world that not many know about. The problem that I'm having is with answering the questions that I'm unaware people want answers to; I have the answers but I'm missing the questions themselves in which to answer.

I've worked with many solutions, lots of equipment, tons of protocols, and almost on a daily basis I have to come up with a way to connect things together to get them to talk to each other in reliable ways that may not be obvious to the common programmer or hobbyist. I know many people have heard of IoT before but that in itself not many people seem to understand and I'm trying to figure out why, but I'm also trying to help others understand that the internet is not the only thing involved with automation too.

What kinds of things are any of you interested in, in terms of automation?
What kinds of problems are you facing?
What kinds of solutions or automation systems are you interested in?

I would love to try and bring my collected knowledge to the forefront but I'm unsure on how to present it in a way that would be useful or interesting to the common individual. Because automation is such a huge topic for me based on what I've done over the years I would like to target the more popular topics but I need help understanding what they are -- which is why I've come here! :)

I wrote this article a few days ago, as more of a way to get the confusion out of my head on what to write about: Automation Programming Introduction << AceInfinity – Microsoft MVP

Any insight out there? :huh:

 

[Digerati]

I am confused about the focus of your article. The title is very broad/vague to me. And after reading, I cannot tell if the topic is about automation, types of physical connections, communication protocols, industry standards - or the lack thereof. Automation is much more than IoT as you say that in the body, but the title does not suggest that. And you seem to suggest in your second paragraph the connection for IoT automation must be over "Ethernet" - which implies wired. That's obviously not the case.

Your third paragraph is monstrous addressing many topics and should, IMO, be split into several paragraphs.

You say you have been asked many times to write about automation and IoT. I suggest you pick one, narrow focused aspect and write just about that. Then pick another aspect and address that. You can perhaps do it in a FAQ format instead of all at once. For example,

Q1 What is this IoT I keep hearing people talk about?
A1 IoT stands for the Internet of Things and was defined by the Global Standards Initiative as "the infrastructure of information society" for the control of remote devices... and so on.

Q2 What is automation?
A2 The use of various control devices or systems for operating equipment...

Q3 What is CEC over HDMI and how does work?
A3 CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) is a feature of HDMI allowing users to control the function of up to 15 devices through a single remote... yadda yadda.​

As you correctly noted, the various technologies involved in automation are rapidly changing as requirements change, develop and are better understood, and as dominant technologies emerge as the new standards. If done in a series of FAQ articles, you can not only add a narrowly focused FAQs in an orderly fashion, you can easily go back and update the articles to keep up with the times.

JMHO

 

[Corrine]

Does the MS IoT developer blog give you any ideas? Windows 10 IoT Core | Official Site | Windows IoT

 

[AceInfinity]

I am confused about the focus of your article. The title is very broad/vague to me. And after reading, I cannot tell if the topic is about automation, types of physical connections, communication protocols, industry standards - or the lack thereof. Automation is much more than IoT as you say that in the body, but the title does not suggest that. And you seem to suggest in your second paragraph the connection for IoT automation must be over "Ethernet" - which implies wired. That's obviously not the case.

Your third paragraph is monstrous addressing many topics and should, IMO, be split into several paragraphs.

You say you have been asked many times to write about automation and IoT. I suggest you pick one, narrow focused aspect and write just about that. Then pick another aspect and address that. You can perhaps do it in a FAQ format instead of all at once. For example,

Q1 What is this IoT I keep hearing people talk about?
A1 IoT stands for the Internet of Things and was defined by the Global Standards Initiative as "the infrastructure of information society" for the control of remote devices... and so on.

Q2 What is automation?
A2 The use of various control devices or systems for operating equipment...

Q3 What is CEC over HDMI and how does work?
A3 CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) is a feature of HDMI allowing users to control the function of up to 15 devices through a single remote... yadda yadda.​

As you correctly noted, the various technologies involved in automation are rapidly changing as requirements change, develop and are better understood, and as dominant technologies emerge as the new standards. If done in a series of FAQ articles, you can not only add a narrowly focused FAQs in an orderly fashion, you can easily go back and update the articles to keep up with the times.

JMHO

Yes, and I can understand your confusion because it was written in uncertainty about what I wanted to talk about, thus the reason why this thread was posted. I want the roadmap to help lessen the topics that I can talk about so I can focus on things that people are most interested in, because right now that article is a representation of a map of the world, when I'm sure most people are only interested in a map of a specific city. I had to keep it very generalized just to get the idea out there about all the ways one can go about automation. It wasn't well written, but those protocols listed are all communication protocols that I use nearly everyday in the automation industry.

Everyone thinks about automation in different ways -- when I ask the average IT person what automation is they automatically think about IFTTT and networked devices, if you ask other people it's about microcontrollers and robotics, ask anyone else and it's about smart technology that uses the cloud and internet data and API's to adjust complex things manually for you like the Nest thermostats. Ask me, and it's also about another platform that I use and writing programs that deal with wired and other wireless communication types and protocols outside of TCP and UDP on a lower level...

I did not proofread the article, I wrote it as my thoughts came out but what I did mean was "Internet" connected; it can be over wifi and doesn't require internet if the network at hand has the infrastructure to achieve the end-goal, but typically this acronym implies internet in most cases to connect to the cloud to access well-matured databases of information and servers.

I'm not expecting a lecture on the article, I know it could be better written -- what I am asking is the answers to the questions I've asked in this thread to help myself write better and less disorganized articles on the topic in the future. I would pick a narrow topic if I knew what people wanted me to write about specifically, but I didn't at the time of writing the article, and that IS the question I'm looking for people to help me answer in this thread (because I do not know).

I would hardly have enough time to write about the specs of HDMI and its uses in automation just by itself though, so I have little interest in updating older articles and I'd rather just write new ones if more important information must be said. By what I know about HDMI, HDMI 1.4 spec isn't even fully implemented in 90% of the hardware I deal with or have seen. Find one device that uses an HDMI interface for network... I'd be surprised if someone could, but it is part of the HDMI 1.4 spec.

... So let me rephrase what I'm looking for here and narrow that down to just one question for now -- What kind of automation programming difficulties or interests do any of you have? I think based on the interests I read, I can get a better idea of some of the protocols & hardware I should be talking about and the kind of advice I can provide.

I sure hope I can write better articles when I know what I want to talk about but automation isn't exactly like talking about how to bake cookies.

Does the MS IoT developer blog give you any ideas? Windows 10 IoT Core | Official Site | Windows IoT

Not entirely unfortunately... I'm having difficulty here because what I do is much lower level than apps and hardware all contained for you in small devices with API's already available to achieve what you want to do. What I'm looking to do is help people really understand what goes on underneath before the high level stuff, API's and apps. RS-232 control (baud rates, flow control, etc...), WOL magic packets, GPIO's (relays, contacts), etc...






People seem to understand the cloud and IoT and RESTful API's for interconnected devices but ask people how all that works in the background and lots of people don't have any idea. I'm not looking for definitions or criticism on the article I'm looking for problems that people are facing to help guide my articles in a certain direction. Solutions like Philips hue and others all deal with the complexity for you like communicating with ZigBee nodes and the overall mesh, but what if that isn't available for you for what you're trying to control or achieve with an automation solution? *MOST* people wouldn't have alternative solutions.

IoT solutions, platforms and pre-built kits are already out there, but I want to try to help those people that are more DIY'ers and trying to work from the ground up learning how things can communicate and talk to one another.

Anyways, I appreciate the time you've both taken to help me, but the topics I'm hoping to answer are more along the lines of:
- What protocol(s) do I need to know in order to control *this* TV with my computer?
- How do I get *this* DSP to trigger an event when the signal present threshold of *these* mics reach -10dB?

Things like this to my knowledge (at least in the commercial world right now), do not have available prepackaged API's and SDK's for people to use to achieve the desired result.

 

[Corrine]

Sorry, Ace, your questions definitely aren't in my area of expertise (or interest). There is only one person I'm familiar with who touches on TV and other apps is Barb Bowman -- but not on the developer level. (Her "Connected Home" category blog posts: Connected Home).

 

[Digerati]

when I ask the average IT person what automation is they automatically think about IFTTT and networked devices

Sorry but I cannot agree with your definition of "the average IT person". I think you need to define your audience, then go from there. IT is industries within industries thus way too big to define "the average IT person" as someone who thinks automation is about IFTTT and networked devices. Even just "networked devices" is an extremely broad category. But more importantly automation does NOT automatically imply anything is networked.

Look at all the automated devices on the modern car that have absolutely nothing to do with IFTTT or networked devices. Air bags, cruise control, adaptive cruise control, lane wandering warnings, auto stopping, auto parking, backup cameras and more.

Automation to "the average IT person" is the standard definition of automation though most controlled by computers - perhaps networked, though not necessarily over the Internet.

My DVR automatically records my favorite shows. My pharmacy automatically sends me refills of my prescriptions.

You mention robotics - those are all programmed and controlled by IT people. And they are huge industries.

Yes, automation has taken on new meanings, but the old meanings have not gone away.

So you are absolutely correct when you say everyone thinks about automation in different ways. But I don't agree when you say "the average IT person" thinks of automation as those very small slices of the automation pie.

... So let me rephrase what I'm looking for here and narrow that down to just one question for now -- What kind of automation programming difficulties or interests do any of you have?

That's perfect. :) Though it really does not apply to me because I have no interest in programming. My interests are in IT hardware support, and security.

As a side request - if you don't plan on going back to update and keep current any of your articles, then I would ask that you date them. This may seem like common sense but too often today, I see articles that are not dated. When it comes to "information technologies" I hate seeing clearly outdated blog articles about constantly evolving technologies that are not dated. I feel it only does a disservice to those the blogger is trying to educate. If you look at Corrine's blog, for example, the first thing you see above every article (in a different font color no less) is the date. :thumbsup2:

People seem to understand the cloud and IoT and RESTful API's for interconnected devices but ask people how all that works in the background and lots of people don't have any idea.

This is why I think you need to define your audience and be ready to accept it is going to be a very small one. You are right that lots of people don't have any ideal how it all works. But that's because the vast majority of people just don't care how it works. They just want it work, every time, without bad guys causing problems.

And I was not lecturing (sorry if I come across that way), nor did I say or imply it was poorly written. You asked for insight. I've been supporting IS/IT systems since 1971 for the DoD and other government agencies, the corporate world, SOHOs and individuals computing/networking needs so I gave you mine. Nothing says you have to use it.

but automation isn't exactly like talking about how to bake cookies.

:lol: Very interesting/ironic you say that. I saw a short film/documentary on agricultural automation years ago. It was about future farming where, guided by GPS, huge machines would plant in one pass, 2 rows of wheat, 1 row of sugar beets, 1/2 row of soy beans, 1 1/2 rows of peanuts and so on for all the ingredients (in the correct proportions) for peanut butter cookies. Watering and fertilizing and insect control was all automated and then at harvest time, another big machine would cultivate the field. This same machine would not just process the crops, but mix the ingredients, dispense the batter in cookies size portions, bake the cookies in on-board ovens fueled by burning some of the waste stalks, stems and shells, then package the cookies in boxes made on that same machine from fibers of the remaining plant waste and deposit the boxes of store ready cookies on pallets when this machine reached the end of the row. Pretty cool. I think the inability to control the weather has hampered development of this idea but advances in automated indoor farming are getting there (note there's no date on this article! :banghead: :mad7:).

 

[Corrine]

...If you look at Corrine's blog, for example, the first thing you see above every article (in a different font color no less) is the date. :thumbsup2:

OT: But what was the second thing you saw? (Nope, I'm not a developer or programmer and can't draw worth beans but I had fun putting the "NinaCat" image that Richard Hay/WinObs found together with the MVP logos.)

 

[Digerati]

OT: But what was the second thing you saw?

The misspelled "Updtes"! :grin1: :hug:

Seriously, when looking at your blog entries, it is first the date, then the topic title.

 

[Corrine]

Thanks, fixed. I need to remember to double-check that as it is a common typo I make.

 

[Digerati]

No spell checker?

 

[Corrine]

In the body but not the title.

 

[Digerati]

Ah! Odd. Or maybe not. I don't know.

I don't like autocorrect because I don't feel they are smart enough - yet. But spell checkers have spoiled me.

 

[AceInfinity]

when I ask the average IT person what automation is they automatically think about IFTTT and networked devices

Sorry but I cannot agree with your definition of "the average IT person". I think you need to define your audience, then go from there. IT is industries within industries thus way too big to define "the average IT person" as someone who thinks automation is about IFTTT and networked devices. Even just "networked devices" is an extremely broad category. But more importantly automation does NOT automatically imply anything is networked.

Look at all the automated devices on the modern car that have absolutely nothing to do with IFTTT or networked devices. Air bags, cruise control, adaptive cruise control, lane wandering warnings, auto stopping, auto parking, backup cameras and more.

Automation to "the average IT person" is the standard definition of automation though most controlled by computers - perhaps networked, though not necessarily over the Internet.

My DVR automatically records my favorite shows. My pharmacy automatically sends me refills of my prescriptions.

You mention robotics - those are all programmed and controlled by IT people. And they are huge industries.

Yes, automation has taken on new meanings, but the old meanings have not gone away.

So you are absolutely correct when you say everyone thinks about automation in different ways. But I don't agree when you say "the average IT person" thinks of automation as those very small slices of the automation pie.

... So let me rephrase what I'm looking for here and narrow that down to just one question for now -- What kind of automation programming difficulties or interests do any of you have?

That's perfect. :) Though it really does not apply to me because I have no interest in programming. My interests are in IT hardware support, and security.

As a side request - if you don't plan on going back to update and keep current any of your articles, then I would ask that you date them. This may seem like common sense but too often today, I see articles that are not dated. When it comes to "information technologies" I hate seeing clearly outdated blog articles about constantly evolving technologies that are not dated. I feel it only does a disservice to those the blogger is trying to educate. If you look at Corrine's blog, for example, the first thing you see above every article (in a different font color no less) is the date. :thumbsup2:

People seem to understand the cloud and IoT and RESTful API's for interconnected devices but ask people how all that works in the background and lots of people don't have any idea.

This is why I think you need to define your audience and be ready to accept it is going to be a very small one. You are right that lots of people don't have any ideal how it all works. But that's because the vast majority of people just don't care how it works. They just want it work, every time, without bad guys causing problems.

And I was not lecturing (sorry if I come across that way), nor did I say or imply it was poorly written. You asked for insight. I've been supporting IS/IT systems since 1971 for the DoD and other government agencies, the corporate world, SOHOs and individuals computing/networking needs so I gave you mine. Nothing says you have to use it.

but automation isn't exactly like talking about how to bake cookies.

:lol: Very interesting/ironic you say that. I saw a short film/documentary on agricultural automation years ago. It was about future farming where, guided by GPS, huge machines would plant in one pass, 2 rows of wheat, 1 row of sugar beets, 1/2 row of soy beans, 1 1/2 rows of peanuts and so on for all the ingredients (in the correct proportions) for peanut butter cookies. Watering and fertilizing and insect control was all automated and then at harvest time, another big machine would cultivate the field. This same machine would not just process the crops, but mix the ingredients, dispense the batter in cookies size portions, bake the cookies in on-board ovens fueled by burning some of the waste stalks, stems and shells, then package the cookies in boxes made on that same machine from fibers of the remaining plant waste and deposit the boxes of store ready cookies on pallets when this machine reached the end of the row. Pretty cool. I think the inability to control the weather has hampered development of this idea but advances in automated indoor farming are getting there (note there's no date on this article! :banghead: :mad7:).

Whether my statistics are right or wrong they were never intended to be 100% accurate, it was only a prop to describe the problem I'm facing with writing articles about automation from a developer's point of view. Ask people what "the cloud" means to them for instance, and depending on someone's exposure, their description of that term may differ quite a bit from that of someone else's.

Automation programming is my career, I think about automation in terms of controlling stuff through code, but in a very broad sense. For people that don't do this for a career, they may have a much more narrow idea about automation. Even if that is true, I would like to know what automation means to those people as developers, and what kinds of things they are trying and struggling with.

As you might be able to tell, and as Corrine has seemed to acknowledge, the developer audience is more of my real target. I would like to write about things that the general developer population can relate to and not just people in my area of expertise as I think it would be very unlikely that the majority of developers out there have the same type of hardware or resources in front of them as I do.

I can only speak from my own experience, and that's what I'm trying to do in order to explain my issue -- Try to take things in a much lesser literal sense.

Even if automation isn't about networking, I bet you that is the idea that most networking people have, because of their exposure to those kinds of devices. Look at any device today that you can control: TV's, power plugs, speakers, media players, then calculate the percentage of those devices that can't be controlled over the network. I can control my smart TV over the network, including my Apple TV, Sonos player, Philips Hue Lighting system, belken outlet plugs, and many more things.

As for a date on my article:

This entry was posted on April 22, 2017, 1:40 PM and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

It is dated, maybe it's the fact that the text is too light to be noticeable which indicates that I should look into making it a bit easier for my readers to see?

And I was not lecturing (sorry if I come across that way), nor did I say or imply it was poorly written. You asked for insight.

Yes but on a very different topic I think. You're still talking about my article -- and I'm asking about automation topics that I should be targeting. The article I shouldn't even have posted really but I threw it in here as it seemed related to what I was trying to blog about at that point in time. I appreciate your insight, but it appears I haven't guided you in the right direction.

I'm not disregarding your advice, but I need less definitions and more hot topics dealing with equipment automation for the developer audience.

 

[Digerati]

As you might be able to tell, and as Corrine has seemed to acknowledge, the developer audience is more of my real target.

I do see and understand that. And I was talking about your article because that is what you asked us about.

You see your focus as being very broad. I see it as fairly narrow (when thinking of automation as a whole) and it needs to be focused even narrower.

Automation programming is my career, I think about automation in terms of controlling stuff through code, but in a very broad sense. For people that don't do this for a career, they may have a much more narrow idea about automation. Even if that is true, I would like to know what automation means to those people as developers, and what kinds of things they are trying and struggling with.

This illustrates my point. You say "in a very broad sense", but the fact is, "controlling stuff through code" is but one tiny portion of automation.

When you are buried in the trenches your entire universe becomes what you can see even though that is but a tiny portion of the real universe. Even if there are a 1000 people in the trenches with you, that is still but a tiny portion of the big picture and that can distort our perceptions. You see the code work of automation as the broad picture, I see it as but one small (but critically important) part of the big picture.

You need to start by defining "stuff". In terms of "controlling stuff", data is stuff. Can you touch and feel data? The autopilot on an aircraft controls stuff too, like moving flaps, adjusting engine speeds, and more - mechanical "stuff" you can touch and feel.

If I think of long-distance, remote, robotic, microscopic surgery, I can think of several technologies (entire industries!) involved in that automation process. There's the actual networking that involves no moving parts at all. Then there's the mechanics of moving all kinds of parts, including the scalpel in precision movements in the operating room, and the mechanics on the surgeon's end too. There's the microscopic optics, power delivery, and all the fail-safe measures that must take place too. Coding is just one part of the process.

Even if automation isn't about networking, I bet you that is the idea that most networking people have

No way! I used to work in a software development company that supported secure networking for the US State Department and DoD. We had over 400 developers at our one location. There was another 200 consultants like me who supported all sorts of "IT/IS" systems for federal, state and commercial contracts. Everything we did dealt with networking.

Yet by far, it was all about communication, saving and delivering "information", not "controlling stuff" - unless by "stuff" you mean messages and data. Nothing involved "moving parts". Yes, automation can involve just processes, but a huge part of automation is about moving parts.

Look at Internet providers. They are pretty much all network people. Are you suggesting their primary focus is automation? Look at e-medical records, on-line banking, telecommunications, cable TV. They all are network dependent. Do you think of automation when you think of them?

I think what you need to do is just start listing things YOU want to write about. Forget, for now, what others want. Write about what you want. Narrow your focus to a pinpoint topic, research, write, then expand from there. Write about what you want to learn more about.

Talk to your co-workers. What do they want to know more about?

I agree that automation is here to stay and will only get more ingrained our lives. "Smart homes" controlled through networking will become commonplace. In the near future, traveling in our cars from point A to point B will all be controlled via automation. But all that is still in it infancy and still but a tiny portion of networking today.

 

[AceInfinity]

This illustrates my point. You say "in a very broad sense", but the fact is, "controlling stuff through code" is but one tiny portion of automation.

Yes but to write code that controls stuff you need to understand the hardware aspect for the most part. That's my belief anyways, so my actual blogs wouldn't just include the code aspect. As the programmer in my industry, I still have to know wiring standards and protocols for more than just those in regards to networking (balanced/unbalanced audio, mic/line/speaker level, chroma-subsampling, etc...), but I also have to have a bit of electrical (mainly low-voltage), video, and audio knowledge to write the code that appropriately controls the devices, as well as troubleshoot.

No way! I used to work in a software development company that supported secure networking for the US State Department and DoD. We had over 400 developers at our one location. There was another 200 consultants like me who supported all sorts of "IT/IS" systems for federal, state and commercial contracts. Everything we did dealt with networking.

I meant in the global scheme of things, it isn't required to be about networking. I did say earlier that it's become a bigger aspect of automation in today's world, as it's the most scale-able approach to expanding control to more devices.

Look at Internet providers. They are pretty much all network people. Are you suggesting their primary focus is automation? Look at e-medical records, on-line banking, telecommunications, cable TV. They all are network dependent. Do you think of automation when you think of them?

I'm not suggesting any of this :/. My statement was clear to show that I was talking about the perspective of the networking person's, not my own, however to make it more clear I probably should have used "only"

>> Even if automation isn't only about networking, I bet you that is the idea that most networking people have

However, I was only implying that a networking person probably has a biased perspective on modern-day automation, I can't prove anything on a statistics level, so you'll have to take them with a grain of salt and try to understand what I was hinting at instead.

Talk to your co-workers. What do they want to know more about?

Yes but then my blogs would most likely become professional-industry specific and more likely involve tools and technology not available to the general public whereas I want to get out of that with my articles... I want to be able to write articles that benefit the electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmers/developers. The point for me would be to target people that could read my blogs and successfully control and automate common equipment that people have in their home, or at least most people own, and end up perhaps eventually integrating things together so they can work in a synchronized way.

Thanks for the response though

 

[Corrine]

I want to be able to write articles that benefit the electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmers/developers. The point for me would be to target people that could read my blogs and successfully control and automate common equipment that people have in their home, or at least most people own, and end up perhaps eventually integrating things together so they can work in a synchronized way.

That does not describe me so I tried searching for "IoT projects for home", "IoT projects for kids", "IoT connected devices". Curiously, articles from the better-known journals were from 2014 (11 Internet of Things ideas worth watching | Network World and Internet Of Things: 8 Pioneering Ideas - InformationWeek).

Interestingly, the site that actually had ides that fall within the above quote was Microsoft Projects. Perhaps that will give you some ideas (although you're probably already familiar with it as well as Azure IoT Developer Center.

Sorry, I don't have any other suggestions since its not my area of interest.

 

[Digerati]

Yes but then my blogs would most likely become professional-industry specific and more likely involve tools and technology not available to the general public whereas I want to get out of that with my articles...

But you are now suggesting the "general public" is interested in programming for IoT devices. They aren't! No way. The general public doesn't care about any programming.

You say "general public" but then you also said you "want to be able to write articles that benefit the electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmers/developers". I mean WOW! :eek4: That is a very tiny group of highly specialized individuals, no where near representative of the general public.

The "general public" get frustrated setting the clocks on their microwave ovens, entering a destination on their car's GPS, or programming their DVR so they don't miss the next episode of "The Big Bang Theory" (Penny represents the "general public" BTW, with her lack of interest in physics, etc). The general public could care less how something works, or why it works, they just want it to work. No way is the "electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmer/developer" a member of the general public!

Look, I appreciate what you are trying to do, and your struggle getting that defined. But you are not accepting the fact that the general public could care less about this. No matter how generalized you make your topics, no matter how "broad" the strokes are with your topics, you are still writing "technical articles". And that means only a very small audience of tech heads will be interested.

I am much more than a "electrical DIY hobbyist" having been a master certified electronics technician supporting IS/IT systems for over 45 years. But I don't care about programming. In fact, I made it career goal to avoid programming as much as possible! I even worked for Northrop Grumman IT in their software development division for 10 years after I go out of the Air Force.

People don't care how Alexa turns on their lights. They only care that the lights go on.

Look at this TechRepublic article I got today, Top 5: Ways to create secure IoT devices. It is so simplistic, it is boring. But it has to be simplistic to avoid talking over readers' heads. So then who is the audience? But even though it is not talking over the heads of the general public, do you think the general public would find that article interesting? I don't. In fact, I would not even have read it if it had not been for this discussion here. Did I get anything out of it? No.

Here are the top 50 occupations in US. Note where software developers are.

And that's the rosy list! See where System Software Developers sit on this list.

So I am back to the recommendation I made above.

I think what you need to do is just start listing things YOU want to write about. Forget, for now, what others want. Write about what you want. Narrow your focus to a pinpoint topic, research, write, then expand from there. Write about what you want to learn more about.

If you want a suggestion, write about securing IoT devices. Write how to prevent Alexa and other devices from gathering our passwords and other personal data they heard while eavesdropping on us. Write how to prevent them from being hacked by bad guys. Or to block them from "phoning home" and giving our personal information to Amazon and Google so they can sell it, or use it against us.

 

[AceInfinity]

Yes but then my blogs would most likely become professional-industry specific and more likely involve tools and technology not available to the general public whereas I want to get out of that with my articles...

But you are now suggesting the "general public" is interested in programming for IoT devices. They aren't! No way. The general public doesn't care about any programming.

You say "general public" but then you also said you "want to be able to write articles that benefit the electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmers/developers". I mean WOW! :eek4: That is a very tiny group of highly specialized individuals, no where near representative of the general public.

The "general public" get frustrated setting the clocks on their microwave ovens, entering a destination on their car's GPS, or programming their DVR so they don't miss the next episode of "The Big Bang Theory" (Penny represents the "general public" BTW, with her lack of interest in physics, etc). The general public could care less how something works, or why it works, they just want it to work. No way is the "electrical DIY hobbyist home automation-inspired individual programmer/developer" a member of the general public!

Look, I appreciate what you are trying to do, and your struggle getting that defined. But you are not accepting the fact that the general public could care less about this. No matter how generalized you make your topics, no matter how "broad" the strokes are with your topics, you are still writing "technical articles". And that means only a very small audience of tech heads will be interested.

I am much more than a "electrical DIY hobbyist" having been a master certified electronics technician supporting IS/IT systems for over 45 years. But I don't care about programming. In fact, I made it career goal to avoid programming as much as possible! I even worked for Northrop Grumman IT in their software development division for 10 years after I go out of the Air Force.

People don't care how Alexa turns on their lights. They only care that the lights go on.

Look at this TechRepublic article I got today, Top 5: Ways to create secure IoT devices. It is so simplistic, it is boring. But it has to be simplistic to avoid talking over readers' heads. So then who is the audience? But even though it is not talking over the heads of the general public, do you think the general public would find that article interesting? I don't. In fact, I would not even have read it if it had not been for this discussion here. Did I get anything out of it? No.

Here are the top 50 occupations in US. Note where software developers are.

And that's the rosy list! See where System Software Developers sit on this list.

So I am back to the recommendation I made above.

I think what you need to do is just start listing things YOU want to write about. Forget, for now, what others want. Write about what you want. Narrow your focus to a pinpoint topic, research, write, then expand from there. Write about what you want to learn more about.

If you want a suggestion, write about securing IoT devices. Write how to prevent Alexa and other devices from gathering our passwords and other personal data they heard while eavesdropping on us. Write how to prevent them from being hacked by bad guys. Or to block them from "phoning home" and giving our personal information to Amazon and Google so they can sell it, or use it against us.

I'm not suggesting any of that once again... I'm talking about the "general public" and narrowing that group of people down based on the interests I've specified, and tried to exclude the notion that they must be expert individuals in my industry. It doesn't take highly specialized individuals to become inspired about automation-programming, nor any real-world qualifications or any degree for someone to consider themselves as a hobbyist. I honestly can't see what you're getting at, but you're taking this too far off topic.

Corrine has given me lots of good references based on her speculation even though she doesn't have much interest in this topic, though I've neglected to show much acknowledgement for it admittedly.

To be frank - I will proceed with Corrine's guidance instead most likely as I now feel like I'm trying to explain something to Siri, or like I'm placing a pin on a map and every time I turn my back you take it out and put it somewhere else on the map to trick me, and because of that I have lost interest in trying to further explain myself. I have enough validation based on Corrine's couple responses that other people have understood what I've tried to ask.

"People don't care how Alexa turns on their lights. They only care that the lights go on." - This for example is not relevant as this describes an audience that I'm not targeting with my articles because they don't care to know how things work on the back-end. To play devil's advocate, you're generalizing this for all people too in this context. You see, it's easy to point out (especially with the English language), but it doesn't lead the discussion to a more productive path.

I'm writing this blog to help other people, not for profit, or my own entertainment or intentional benefit. What I want to write about is not necessary what may help other people, and then the point of my article's is essentially nullified. I can see what you're getting at but I want to take a different approach to my blog so it's less specific to myself.

Again, thanks for your replies. :grin1:

 

[Digerati]

I am not trying to trick you - I am just wanting you to understand who your audience is so you are not just wasting your time.

Maybe I am the one stuck on this "general public" concept. The general public consists of people from 1 day old to 100 years old. The general public, in my mind, fits this definition (my bold added): "ordinary people in society, rather than people who are considered to be important or who belong to a particular group".

A layperson, on the other hand, is someone without expertise in a particular field, but may have interest. Those are who (I believe) you want to target.

Maybe your first blog should be a survey/poll of potential IoT topics your readers want to learn more about. If they take the survey, they have already shown interest in IoT - that is, not just the general public.

Anyway, sorry I caused you frustration. That was not my intent. It just seems to me you feel there is much greater interest in programming and developing software code for IoT devices than there really is.

 

[AceInfinity]

I am not trying to trick you - I am just wanting you to understand who your audience is so you are not just wasting your time.

Maybe I am the one stuck on this "general public" concept. The general public consists of people from 1 day old to 100 years old. The general public, in my mind, fits this definition (my bold added): "ordinary people in society, rather than people who are considered to be important or who belong to a particular group".

A layperson, on the other hand, is someone without expertise in a particular field, but may have interest. Those are who (I believe) you want to target.

Maybe your first blog should be a survey/poll of potential IoT topics your readers want to learn more about. If they take the survey, they have already shown interest in IoT - that is, not just the general public.

Anyway, sorry I caused you frustration. That was not my intent. It just seems to me you feel there is much greater interest in programming and developing software code for IoT devices than there really is.

>> It just seems to me you feel there is much greater interest in programming and developing software code for IoT devices than there really is.

This may be the sad truth for me, I'm sure there's some people out there, but not as many as I'm hoping. I might just have to write blogs in order to spark interest rather than target an existing audience.

Because it's my field -- I'm pretty sure I have a biased perspective on this topic too and can see more uses for this type of stuff also.

Anyways, the comment that you posted above is good insight for me. I never actually thought of it that way until now either, but collectively even though I know my post may have caused some confusion about what I was asking, both of you have answered my questions whether it was intentional or not.

Thanks! :thumbsup2: