50 Billion Web-Connected Devices by 2020

Here’s today’s sign of the forthcoming Robot Apocalypse (Robocalypse, we guess?): Cisco claims that there will be 50 billion internet-accessible devices in the world come 2020. Considering there will be around eight billion people on the planet by that point (Robocalypse pending, of course), that works out to more than six internet-accessible devices per human. That means that in addition to a computer and smartphone, we can expect (nay, DEMAND!) to all have a tablet, gaming console, e-reader, and, umm, iToilet or something? Your move, Apple. Anyhow, Cisco also suggests that internet traffic will quadruple by 2014 because of the rapid increase in streaming video online, which is just great news for a networking giant like Cisco (hurray self-serving news releases! Keeping the media afloat with minimal effort since 1906!). Or, at least until some of those 50 billion devices get all SkyNet-y on us.