Social Machines
Wade Roush, Technology Review, August 2005
While continuous computing is now a practical reality, it has been a long time coming. The first serious work on it began 17 years ago at Xerox's famed Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). That's where computer scientist Mark Weiser set out to study the notion of ubiquitous computing
which he defined as "activating the world"--creating networks of small, wireless computing devices that permeated the physical structures around us, where they would supposedly anticipate our needs and act without requiring our attention. . . .
The sensors communicated with prototype "tabs"--small, wireless displays that functioned as labels or sticky notes--and with tablet-sized handheld computers and large display boards. Weiser envisioned hundreds of these devices installed in rooms, homes, and office complexes, where they would eventually become "invisible to common awareness," as he predicted in a 1991 article for Scientific American. "People will simply use them unconsciously to accomplish everyday tasks," he wrote.
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