I’ve been writing about technology for the better part of eight years now, and I would be stating the obvious if I said that things have changed a lot during that time. But in a way, I would beg to differ that some things really haven’t changed at all.

Take the topic of standards, for instance. When I first started writing about technology it was for the manufacturing space and all the buzz was around OPC and its role in linking the plant floor. As I moved to construction, the big topic was IFCs and integrating disparate data from models in order to build and manage facilities better. Then I moved to the M2M space, and the talk of standards and interoperability … well, let’s just say it’s an ongoing discussion.

I guess that line that someone told me years ago still holds true to this day: Standards are wonderful, that is why everyone wants to have one.

So when we had Brian Macdonald of ANT on The Peggy Smedley Show last week, I wasn’t surprised when the conversation shifted to the topic of standards. ANT is a very cool technology, providing an ultra-low-power short-range communication link to various devices and systems. It enables the collection and transfer of data with a range of products in the fitness arena, for example, the Garmin Forerunner. The company has ANT+, which is the standard that goes on top of ANT, the protocol, which provides for interoperability from the various devices and the various manufacturers.

The company has even formed the ANT+ Alliance, a special industry group for companies that want to use ANT and ANT+. According to Macdonald, there are 220 current members of the alliance with some 250 products and services available, and that number is growing every month.

I think it’s great that we are talking about standards even for fitness devices. While some might think the topic has been beaten to death, we cannot ignore its importance as we look to build this community of connected devices. The consumer can be the biggest driving factor towards establishing standards, in that all it takes is one time where the technology doesn’t work and they abandon it. And that really becomes a detriment to everyone developing products in the space.

I’m looking forward to hearing more from Brian at our Connected World Conference, where he will be talking about standards during our standards day on June 17. We always get the biggest thought leaders in the M2M space attending our event, and I can’t wait to hear the open and interactive discussions that Brian’s presentation will spark at the conference.

For that matter, I am looking forward to the entire day of standards talk. I cannot get into all the details quite yet but we will be hearing from the TR-50 talking about standards. You won’t want to miss a minute of this day.

Last night, something awful happened. After spending the entire day looking forward to watching Lost, I was bitterly disappointed when my DVR dropped the ball. It wasn’t my fault—it was definitely the DVR. I set it to record beforehand. I even checked on it during the recording, and the little red light was on, and it said it was recoding in the channel display. But when I tried to watch it afterward—zilch.

In today’s world of high-speed broadband, this isn’t really that big of a tragedy. I simply have to wait until the next day, and then either download it for $2.99 on iTunes or watch it free on Hulu. However, I don’t really want to watch the majesty and visual splendor that is Lost on my relatively tiny laptop screen. This is when I wish my television was connected to the Internet, and I could simply flip over to Hulu and stream Lost right on my TV.

These types of technologies are definitely out there, they just haven’t reached the price point or simplicity needed for most consumers. But losing my Lost episode makes me wish the connected future would hurry up and arrive for my TV.

I’m in the process of selling a condo, and I don’t need to tell you that when you get an opportunity for a showing these days you don’t need any hiccups along the way. But that’s exactly what happened last Sunday afternoon.

When we got the call that someone wanted to come take a look, we went through the normal ritual of doing the fast clean up and then making ourselves scarce for the showing. For me, it was an opportunity to use that gym membership that isn’t used as often as I first thought.

All seemed well until I came back to my locker to find two new voicemails and a text message, all from my realtor, telling me that something had gone wrong with the lock box outside my unit and that the agent was unable to show the house. Luckily I was only about 10 minutes away and the showing agent and interested parties were still in the area, allowing me to zip home and let them in.

Talking with my realtor he thinks the problem was with the batteries on these new lock box units they have been using. We’ve been experiencing some frigid temps here in the Chicago area and he thinks that might have been the problem. In fact, he says a few agents have had problems with the batteries on these lock box units.

Our conversation triggered that strange occupational hazard of being Chief Editor of M2M magazine, where I start recalling how M2M technology could have helped the situation. I recalled how the Realtor Assn. of Northwest Chicagoland won a Value Chain Award from us in 2008 for a lockbox system that wirelessly communicates data on when and by whom a property was shown.

The award focused more on the realtime reporting capabilities of the system to realtors and not its ability to send an alert when a malfunction was about to occur with the lockbox. I think that would be a useful application. It certainly would have saved me some panic that Sunday. It’s just another example of how M2M can be useful in our everyday lives.

Chronic health conditions often require patients to carefully keep track of their weight. A sudden weight gain could signal dangerous fluid retention, or another problem. This is especially true for patients with chronic heart conditions.

But it can be hard to remember to weigh yourself every day, and even harder to interpret the results. This is where remote monitoring can come in, and there are so many new ideas for how to use this technology hat we can hardly keep up with all of them.

A recent interesting example is Anthem Blue Cross in California. The insurance company is partnering with IDEAL LIFE to provide wireless body weight scales for in-home use. Patient weight information is collected and transmitted automatically to healthcare providers. Having seen members of my own family struggle with monitoring fluid buildup after an operation, I can easily imagine how useful a product like this could be.

I have never been a big fan of award shows on television, but for my wife they are the highlight of the weekend when they do come around. So naturally when the Grammy’s were on last night I couldn’t avoid the telecast in our house. The host this year was Stephen Colbert of the cable television show The Colbert Report, whom I don’t find to be particualrly funny as others do.

Something he did last night, however, caught my attention. At one point during one of his monologies for the night he pulled out an Apple iPad to read off nominees for one of the categories. It was only days earlier that the device—an ereader set to compete with the likes of Amazon.com’s Kindle and Barnes ‘n Noble’s nook, among others—was unveiled at a press conference from Steve Jobs.

What struck me about Colbert pulling out the device was the great applause it received—I couldn’t quite tell if the great approval from the audience was for what Colbert was saying or for the device itself. Regardless, you must applaud the brand placement and the fact that timing couldn’t have been better.

Whether you like the product or not, you cannot ignore the fact that when Apple releases a product it makes an impact on the market and brings recognition to products that might not be known outside ‘technophile’ circles.

Regardless, it’s just another example of connected devices hitting the mainstream.It’s exciting to see more of these devices hit the market and I’m really looking forward to how these devices will develop and the new competition that will arise. And of the record, my wife says she’s not sure likes the Apple iPad, but perhaps a few more appearances from the device on major award shows will change her opinion.