Ubiquitous Computing: User Experience Considerations
Category: Tech...
Posted Sunday, November 21, 2004 at 09:36 PM [GMT-6]

And thus the author of this fascinating article gives us a glimpse of the horrors that await us if the future is as poorly designed as the present. You think you have troubles getting your PC to do what you want it to do? Apply that same level of frustration to every mechanical device and appliance, every vehicle and building and room, every media outlet and communications port...and you begin to sense that the world of "ubiquitous computing" (UC) is perhaps not going to be all it's cracked up to be.

The author, Adam Greenfield, makes a convincing case for why UC is inevitable. Already, the groundwork is being put in place, as IPv6 will multiply the potential number of IP addresses by a staggering amount, allowing, as Adam puts it, "...enough for every pen and stamp and book and door in the world to talk to each other."

The primary thrust of this article is to stimulate thought and discussion about guidelines for designers and developers of this "ubicomp" environment to employ to ensure that the systems comprising this environment, put most simply, do no harm.

The fact that this subject is being discussed in such a specific and matter-of-fact manner seems to indicate that many of our most imaginative science fiction writers were not merely novelists, but were, in fact, prophets. If contemplation of this nearer-than-we-might-think future doesn't send a chill down your spine (for whatever reason), then perhaps you're just not paying attention.