Information Shadows: How Ubiquitous Computing Serializes Everyday Things

Abstract

Ubiquitous computing is a term coined by Marc Weiser to describe a concept where computers could be woven “into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” ¹ Several present day applications of ubiquitous computing were discussed, and Kuniavsky pointed out that there is a need for “information wranglers” like librarians in order to make ubiquitous computing functional.

KEYWORDS:

• ubiquitous computing
• information shadows
• serialization

Notes

1. Mark Weiser, “The Computer for the 21st Century,” Scientific American 265, no. 3 (September 1991): 94.

2. Ibid.

3. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., “Image:Moores law.svg,” Wikimedia Commons. December 30, 2007. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Moores_law.svg (accessed September 24, 2008).

4. Tom Coates, “The Age of Point-at-Things …,” plasticbag.org. April 26, 2005, http://www. plasticbag.org/archives/2005/04/the_age_of_pointatthings/ (accessed October 23, 2008).

5. Bruce Sterling, “Pervasive Computing,” IDSA/IBM Designabout on Pervasive Computing. Palisades, New York. December 3, 1999. http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/101-125/00113.html (accessed October 23, 2008).

6. Jeremy Rifkin, The Age of Access: The New Culture of Hypercapitalism, Where All of Life Is a Paid-for Experience (New York: Putnam, 2000).

7. Brooke Gladstone, The Science in Science Fiction, National Public Radio interview with William Gibson, David Brin, and Anne Simon, November 30, 1999.