[comment:] <In future semesters, possibly don’t assign Weiser93. 91 should be sufficient. Keep the questions the same.>
Agenda
Day 16 is our discussion on Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing. We will read two major articles that founded the field nearly 30 years ago. Scientists and academics often make many predictions about the future and not all of them come true. We will discuss to what extent Weiser’s vision of pervasive computing has come to pass.
Please read the following articles to prepare for today’s discussion:
- Weiser91: The Computer for the 21st Century, Scientific American. 1991
- Weiser93: Some Computer Science Issues in Ubiqiutous Computing. Communications of the ACM. Volume 36. Issue 7. 1993.
Note: The Weiser93 article is aimed a technical audience and I do not expect you to understand every detail. However, given the embedding of technology in daily life, you should be familiar with most of the terms and issues discussed.
Get ready
Read the articles and prepare for the discuss by completing the questions below. Fill out your responses in a document called UbicompDiscussion and place the document in your Google Drive folder.
Questions for Weiser91:
- Weiser discusses that technologies become invisible when they enter the periphery. He provides writing and electric motors as two examples. What other examples can you determine? Why?
- Weiser discusses the power of ubiquitous computing as making previously inert objects smart. What object in your daily life, if it became smart, would drastically improve your quality of life? Consider tedious things everyday or a large task that could be solved through “smart” methods.
- Fundamentally, Weiser is proposing that ubiquitous technologies should bring people closer together and remove barriers between them. Do you believe the current state of technology brings people together or keeps them apart? Is the current technological landscape “as refereshing as taking a walk in the park”?
Questions for Weiser93:
- The article discusses computing at difference scales of tab, board, and pad. Do you recognize these devices in your daily life? If so, what are they and do their described uses (in the article) match what they are currently used for?
- Privacy is identified as a key concern for ubiquitous computing. Given the proliferation of cell phones in everyday life, what concerns do you have about the privacy of your information? What actions do you take to ensure your privacy (if any)?
