Just what is this “Internet of Things” thing anyway? If you were asked that question right now, you’d probably offer up a somewhat fumbling vision of, say, all the tech in your everyday life — your car, your TV, your...dishwasher — all made “smarter” and all connected to each other via the wonders of the Internet. Smarter toasters! Internet-enabled coffeemakers! That sort of thing.

And you’d be right, if only partially. The Internet of Things (let’s call it the IoT just for brevity here) and the companies like Xively that enable it, are allowing the otherwise disconnected gadgets you use on a regular basis or see around your house, office, or a million other places to connect in appreciable ways. But that’s just scratching the surface. Really, the IoT, young as the term may be, is about connecting the digital to everything else in ways that are fundamentally changing how we interact with the world around us. It’s not just about making your life easier, but also changing what it means to exist in and interact with the physical world.

That’s a pretty lofty statement, sure, but think about it: By 2020, the IoT is predicted to connect more than 1 trillion devices, producing between $1.2 and $14.4 trillion in revenue for the companies that underpin it. Those devices will be way more than just your smartphone and car. The Internet of Things will, more and more, start girding our cities and changing whole industries.

For now, though, it’s all about getting there. Xively, a new IoT public cloud from LogMeIn, is already on its way, providing the kind of platform that rapidly connects devices, applications, and people via the Internet and allows them to communicate with ease. Its underlying infrastructure already supports more than 200 million devices, and boasts 55+ million users. It’s a proven, robust, secure, and highly cost-effective platform for deploying, managing, and deriving transformative benefits from the exploding number of connected devices in the world.

And it’s creating results faster than anyone might have imagined. In the realm of medicine, the Xively platform can empower the IV pumps needed to provide patients with the right medications and nutrients, keeping accurate track of drug data and reducing treatment mistakes in the process. When it comes to irrigation, Xively gives homeowners and contractors control over the water keeping their land alive while also optimizing irrigation use by integrating weather data. That means you won't overwater the rhododendrons on a rainy day.

The potential is endless, but the discussion about how the Internet of Things will affect us is only starting. Xively is front and center in that conversation. Check out how Xively is driving the IoT-connected world right here.