Smartphones can be a bit expensive. But let’s do our homework first. Consider what you can do with a smartphone: take photos, record and watch videos, call and send messages, listen to music and record voice, tell the time, do sums, plan your jogging route and find your way around when in a strange city.

If you had to buy a separate gadget for all these tasks, you would need to invest in a camera, watch, portable DVD player, calculator, mp3 player and GPS unit. The cost of all these gadgets would certainly be higher than what a smartphone would set you back. Actually, after doing this exercise, the cost of a smartphone looks more like a bargain.

Apps have translated various devices into software. If you want to play a game, share photos, connect with friends and family and promote your business, it’s all just a quick download and a tap and swipe away.

We’ve always dreamed of a kind of uber gadget that would help us do anything that we want to do for business and pleasure. Thanks to its computing power, the smartphone is the closest thing to an all-in-one gadget.

However, it’s not the smartphone that has made an all-in-one gadget closer to reality: it’s the internet. The world has become a showcase for the internet of things, where anything imaginable can be connected. From tablets and smartphones to cars and domestic appliances, any piece of equipment has a reason to be connected: you can watch an online video in your car and download a recipe based on what ingredients you have available in your intelligent fridge.

Will the internet of things mean that the number of connected devices will increase or reduce until we reach that magic number: one

However, will the internet of things mean that the number of connected devices will increase or reduce until we reach that magic number: one.

According to the Pew Research Centre, an American fact tank, the average US household owns five devices connected to the internet.

More than six per cent of US households own 15 or more connected devices. It is calculated that worldwide, there are currently over 10 billion connected devices. And that number is constantly increasing.

There’s the conundrum. On one hand, connectivity enables us to have, at least on paper, one device to do all our work and play. Not only that, but while eliminating the need for multiple devices, we have also simplified tasks. There will come a time – and it’s not far – when we will not even need to carry any devices. We already have running shoes with sensors that calculate the distance we’ve run, shirts with inbuilt heart monitors, and smart posture devices that alert us if we’re slumping or hunching over. Today we have wearable technology – tomorrow we will have implantable technology.

And yet on the other hand, the amount of connected devices is increasing year on year. Just two years ago, Cisco research showed that there were 8.7 billion connected devices – by 2020, the number is expected to increase to 50 billion devices.

The conundrum can probably be explained by our love of things. True, a future where an all-in-one gadget will be the only piece of technology we need to carry is indeed attractive.

And yet, that would mean buying less technology and having fewer gadgets around us. And we’re not ready for that kind of world yet.

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