Everyware - The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing

Tom Cruise and the interactive advertisements in Minority Report. Bruce Willis and the GPS taxi tracking in The Fifth Element. Embedded computing isn't just celluloid fantasy technology. Computers have moved off the desktop and into mainstream life- affecting us everyday from shopping online to paying tolls. You see embedded technology all around: in camera phones and PDAs, the EZPass that lets us cruise through the tollbooth without stopping, ID chips that help return our lost pets, iris scanners that admit us to high-security areas, and GPS systems that keep our cars on course. And this convergence and invisibility will only grow more powerful. In this uniquely engaging approach to this complex topic, information architect and design visionary Adam Greenfield explores what he calls Everyware, how ubiquitous computing and technology is reshaping our lives. In byte-sized thesis-like chapters, Greenfield reveals the technologies, practices, innovations, and policies that combine to create this environment where nearly every object is enabled with surprising new properties, allowing people to move around and interact with computers more naturally than ever. For a thought-provoking discussion on how computers are transforming the way we live, this is the place to turn.