Yule Heibel's personal annotations on this page
Lampertina bookmarked
on 2008-05-15
In one paragraph, Tarkington uses Austin Williams's critique of "technology-driven products" that don't solve "more urgent urban problems ...such as the loss of social connections between city dwellers" as an example of criticism missing the point (or perhaps putting the cart in front of the horse?). Can't say I disagree, although Williams (who is technical editor of the Architects' Journal and director of a forum called Future Cities that "critically explores city issues") has a point if he is in part reacting to the hype that usually accompanies new technologies.
Torkington's riposte, on the other hand, is really worth noting: "I think Williams is wrong because he fails to allow for the rate that technology matures." But then of course, some of the people who hype the technology also focus way too much on its present state and don't take its rate of development (change) into account. This is why Torkington focuses on what he calls "the explorers," who one hopes are hype-resistant.
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For as long as I've known the term, ubiquitous computing has been largely ignored, written off as a scifi pipedream from the people who promised you AI and cars that would run on water. That's beginning to change, as hardware such as the Arduino and programmable mobile phone handsets enabling artists, researchers, and makers like Eric Paulos, Elizabeth Goodman, and Julian Bleecker to join the digital and physical worlds in new and interesting ways.
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The explorers I named would be the first to tell you they're not buliding products, things for wide deployment that are meant to be consumer-ready, shelf-demonstrable, and poised for their 30s spot after Leno's monologue.
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But in the legions of developers, hackers, hobbyists, alphageeks, and tinkerers who look at their work there will be some who see a product to build—the homesteaders who build cottages, shops, factories.
This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 15 May 2008, by Yule Heibel.
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Yule Heibel
In one paragraph, Tarkington uses Austin Williams's critique of "technology-driven products" that don't solve "more urgent urban problems ...such as the loss of social connections between city dwellers" as an example of criticism missing the point (or perhaps putting the cart in front of the horse?). Can't say I disagree, although Williams (who is technical editor of the Architects' Journal and director of a forum called Future Cities that "critically explores city issues") has a point if he is in part reacting to the hype that usually accompanies new technologies.
Torkington's riposte, on the other hand, is really worth noting: "I think Williams is wrong because he fails to allow for the rate that technology matures." But then of course, some of the people who hype the technology also focus way too much on its present state and don't take its rate of development (change) into account. This is why Torkington focuses on what he calls "the explorers," who one hopes are hype-resistant.-
For as long as I've known the term, ubiquitous computing has been largely ignored, written off as a scifi pipedream from the people who promised you AI and cars that would run on water. That's beginning to change, as hardware such as the Arduino and programmable mobile phone handsets enabling artists, researchers, and makers like Eric Paulos, Elizabeth Goodman, and Julian Bleecker to join the digital and physical worlds in new and interesting ways.
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The explorers I named would be the first to tell you they're not buliding products, things for wide deployment that are meant to be consumer-ready, shelf-demonstrable, and poised for their 30s spot after Leno's monologue.
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