Prof. Sterling's Internet-of-Things Seminar
European Graduate School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland
May 2006
The participants will divide into three teams.
I. Philosophy Group
Seek ye the Truth!† Put† demonstrably true things in the center and move the unproven and false to the edges.† Try to relate the propositions as self-consistent themes and systems. † Your map is made for clear-thinking intelligentsia who want to deconstruct the chaff and rid themselves of hype and corny hucksterism.
II. Hacker Group
Put things that are easy to grasp, make, and understand in the center.† Boring, impossible, tiresome and more arcane stuff out at the edges.† This is the Google-Juice version. † Your map is for† experimental alpha-geeks who want to pull it right out of the carton and fire it up!
III.† The Power Brokers
Put the serious, heavy-duty, consequential, transformative issues at the center of the map. Cast academic, amateurish, far-out and irrelevant stuff to the fringes.† Your map is for the Davos Forum: top CEOs, ministers of state, crucial decision-makers, and policy wonks.
General Concepts
*********************
The Internet-of-Things: real objects have net addresses and can be accessed virtually.
Everyware:† information processing has been removed from the context of the computer and distributed everywhere in the built environment.
Ambient Findability: The Internet, global mapping systems, and information architecture converge to create search engines for reality.
Spimes:† Speculative objects that are uniquely identified,† data-searchable,† physically trackable, sustainably recyclable, virtually designed, and made by fabricators.
Blogjects: objects that can use the web to disseminate a record of their interactions with people, context and other objects.
Ubiquitous Computing: desktop and mainframe computers quietly and calmly disappear into the general environment.
Pervasive Computing: mobile computers, body devices and networked media invade everywhere.
Physical Computing: using computers to sense and control the physical world.
Ambient Computing: smoothly integrating computing† into physical spaces while seamlessly adapting to changing situations, contexts, and needs.
Ecology of Things: objects interact as semi-autonomous agents.
Things That Think:† hard Artificial Intelligence saturates an area.
Smart Dust:† ultra-tiny, ultra-cheap, ultra-disposable sensors and processors that can scatter like pollen.
Spychips:† how governments and big corporations plan to track your every move!
