Comment: Online shoppers are ready for a connected Christmas

One of the joys of working in technology is that, in my visits to various engineering labs in Korea or California, I get a glimpse of what the future holds for the way we all will live very soon.

The conversation that I am hearing everywhere is all around the much-vaunted ‘internet of things’.

When casual observers talk about this they usually refer (rather disparagingly) to the connected washing machine etc but we have been living more connected lives for some time now.

Anybody with a smart TV, a Sonos sound system, a security camera or an e-wristband is part of the internet of things revolution.

What is coming is far more exciting though; a day, very soon, when all of these connected devices will be controlled through a single interface.

Those of you who own a Sonos system will already know the joy of being able to buy another speaker, plug it in and push one button to make it work. Pretty soon this will apply to a host of new devices.

The US West Coast is buzzing with entrepreneurs coming up with new – and sometimes really weird – ideas. But in there are some real gems too.

And I like how democratic these devices are. Protecting your home with cameras or installing programmable lighting systems used to be the unique preserve of oligarchs and bankers.

Now, for a few quid, all of us can buy these devices, connect them to the wi-fi network we already have and control them with the smartphone that we already own.

This is the quiet revolution of technology: not what it does for the few but how it makes the lives of everybody better.

All of which makes me optimistic for Christmas this year. Customers will be discerning and they will shop in new ways. Not just ordering online and getting stuff delivered to home, but even the timing of shopping has changed.

Last year we saw Black Friday become our third largest sales weekend, after Boxing Day and Easter.

This year I think it will be the second. We certainly have some truly astonishing deals and the most well-thought-out plans ever, but I think the whole market will be positively mayhem.

We will then see the couple of weeks running up to Christmas relatively quiet as the last-minute dads now have until 8am on Christmas Eve to order for delivery in time for Christmas.

We will see more online activity, of course, but also more families shopping in stores as people understand the technology and products together before preparing their Dear Santa letters.

This is the time of the year for gift ideas, so I hope Father Christmas is bringing me: A GoPro, an ultra-high-definition TV, a copy of The Great British Bake Off cookbook and a wi-fi iKettle I can boil from my phone – absurd but brilliant. £99.99.

• Sebastian James is chief executive of Dixons Carphone