Deutsche Telekom’s launch of a platform for the Internet of Things (IoT) was rather spoilt by the spurious claim to be the world’s first that was truly open. The claim of uniqueness was more justifiable in the narrow sense that all the leading platforms have distinctive features leading to their own specific lists of pros and cons. The claim was based on the depth of partners involved, including developers, operators, partners, and suppliers, as well as the ambition to unify the whole field. This latter may prove a strength or liability depending on your point of view, given that the IoT is not at this stage a coherent whole but more a series of disconnected islands serving disparate verticals such…