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Forgetting for a moment about security risks associated with the rise of the Internet of Things—a world in which every imaginable device, from your TV and wireless music system to your refrigerator and sprinkler system, is online gathering and exchanging data—Forbes raises a thought-provoking question:

Is the IoT destined to be the Internet of Pointless Things as companies add connectivity to devices just because they can?

Author Theo Priestley illustrates his point with an example from the recent IFA electronics show where Samsung demonstrated a SmartThings hub that bids you farewell as you head off to work—that is, after you bid (via text) “good morning” to the SmartThings app.

Really? I’m trying to imagine a scenario where anyone would take that time to do such a thing. And, for those who do, let’s just say…uh, sorry you’re so lonely.

Caught up in the buzz and hype surrounding IoT, Priestley notes software and hardware companies often forget to ask a simple question: What value does Internet connectivity ultimately bring?

He also points to a 2014 Nielsen survey showing that well over half of the respondents had little interest in using “smart products” that don’t offer a reason for being and clear-cut value.

Another question: In a house of connected devices, what happens when the Internet goes out? I’m writing this in a Starbucks because my Internet stopped working yesterday morning. Service will be down until Comcast comes out and replaces the underground line running to my house. Hopefully, it will be restored today.

I’ll survive without being able to stream Pandora around the house and checking email on my laptop (I can do that on my phone) but Priestley wonders what happens when a sick or elderly person’s connected pill dispenser stops working.

And then there are those security concerns, not to mention privacy. What happens when 50 billion devices are online in 2020 (Cisco)?

Read the Forbes story here.

Chime in and share your thoughts.