Technology used to be sexy. We were fascinated by ordinary objects with added digital functionality – even if they didn’t make the world a better place or eased our lives by solving specific problems. Due to the rapid technological developments these days are over, aren’t they?

According to Martin Spindler, the answer unfortunately seems to be: No, they aren’t. At least not yet. In his talk at NEXT Berlin 2012 he presented current examples of things connected to the Internet. Those can be classed in two groups: object with useless digital capacity vs. products which were improved by adding digital functionalities. And it turned out that many cases fall into the first category. Not because of a technological incapability to solve certain problems, but because of misled design intents.

Still, there are also very positive examples, which Spindler highlighted as well. As a freelance strategy consultant who focuses on the Internet of things, he has expert knowledge on the topic. Therefore he demands a purpose-led design in order to unlock the full potential of networked objects.

We need to keep in mind that just because we are able to add digital capacity stuff, doesn’t mean we should. Instead, we should think about how we can make stuff better by adding digital.