Customer Reviews

Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing

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Everyone has their fantasies and dreams of what "ubiquitous computing", or "ubicomp" for short, would be. Adam Greenfield shares his thoughts and observations in Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing.

Contents: What is everyware?; How is everyware different from what we're used to?; What's driving the emergence of everyware?; What are the issues we need to be aware of?; Who gets to determine the shape of everyware?; When do we need to begin preparing for everyware?; How might we safeguard our prerogatives in an everyware world?; Conclusion; Index

The book is made up of 81 short "thesis", or general thoughts/musings by Greenfield on the subject of ubicomp, also referred to as "everyware". This isn't a technical "how to" book on connecting the different parts of a wireless network together. Rather, he delves into the social, ethical, and logistical issues (among others) about what it would be like to live in an always-connected, pervasive computing world. For example, what are the privacy issues surrounding a house that is designed to monitor an elderly person for health issues? Do you (or should you) have the ability to decide who gets notified in case of an emergency, or is that out of your hands? Can you opt out of the monitoring? And if something doesn't work, where is the point of failure? Hardware? Software? Interaction between the two? If you're in the mood to be contemplative and think about issues, the book will spur some interesting twists for you. The only problem I had with the book is that Greenfield has you reaching for your dictionary every couple of pages to look up some new word that you've never heard of before. The concepts and issues are great, but it was almost as if he wanted to make the book as intellectual as possible, and it seemed to change the focus from the ideas to the author's skill in writing and turning a phrase. On the other hand, you'll learn a lot of new words... :)

Good material, and worth reading. Just don't approach it from a "how to" angle, and you'll enjoy it a lot more...

Seriously, I just can't seem to keep reading it because I have to stop and think. And think. And daydream. And read a passage over again, and dream a little more. Ever read a book that gets you so excited you have to put it down just to shake off the energy that builds inside you? Well, this one does it for me.

Greenfield is not just able to capture a vision for a world ahead with ubiquitous computing, but to explain in a completely non-jargon, tangible, virtually poetic way.

I think the world really needed a book like this -- to establish a way of thinking about a new, invisible digital age that doesn't get lost amidst big-brother paranoia, or overly-detailed technical specs. Let's face it -- we don't know how it's all going to work together, how we'll get to a world of everware. But it's quite clear we will, and Greenfield spells out the promise and the issues with elegance and clarity.

I had bought it awhile back from Amazon, and it sat there in my orders list (I'd actually never preordered before), finally to arrive and exceed every possible expectation. It's really quite magical.

Too bad it's not hardcover, I'll beat this book to a pulp carrying it everywhere with me, tasting the delicious ideas little by little. I'll carry with me until at least half of the vision comes true.

Like another reviewer, it was my great pleasure to attend Adam Greenfield's presentation on "Everyware" at SXSW '06. In stark language, Adam offered analysis, ideas and reportage from the present and future transformation of our bodies, our homes and our public spaces. Adam has done an intense amount of thinking about how ubiquitious computing, and our interaction with it, will permute over time. I was absolutely blown away by his presentation, and stopped paying attention only for a minute - so I could order this book from Amazon.

I could not be more pleased with that decision. The elements of how Adam speaks - his intonations, his soft-spoken authority, and (most importantly) his deep passion for the subject - all of these are preserved in how he writes. His ideas come off the page unpreturbed; he manages to be succinct even when postulating on the theoretical, the complex, and the downright scary. The structure of the book, with clear declarations of his theories and occassional footnoted asides, makes for engaging reading and easy citation (he's imminently quotable).

Adam's commitment to the people subjected to the vagaries of these emerging technologies is clear. He manages to express the severity of the risk ubiquitous systems pose to privacy and security without being hyperbolic. This is a service to his readers and to the ethical guidelines he proposes. The coming public discussion of these technologies (Blair's National ID program, anyone?) will only be served by rational actors on the privacy rights side. With this quite brilliant book, Adam has set a prime place for himself as an articulate advocate of the individual in that conversation.

The development of everyware (ubiquitous computing, calm technology, pervasive comptuting) poses some interesting questions. However, after I got past the introductory sections, my interest waned.

The book is not technical; I was not looking for that.
The book is not creative; I was looking for that.

"Thesis 11: Everyware appears not merely in more places than personal computing does, but in more different kinds of places, at a greater variety of scales."
That doesn't sound very ground-breaking. But let's see what he says about it. The old places were "coffee houses, transit lounges, airliner seats, hotel rooms, airport concourses". Then he says "How do you begin to discuss the "place" of computing that subsumes all of the above situations, but also invests processing power in refrigerators, elevators, closets, toilets, pens, tollbooths, eyeglasses, utility conduits, pets, sneakers, subway turnstiles, handbags, HvAC equipment, coffee mugs, credit cards, and many other things?" That's it. That's the end of Thesis 11.

And all the quotes and references to the 80s and 90s. I thought I was going to hear about new stuff. Although, if you want to go down memory lane, he's your man. He can reminisce even further back, like to the "fondly and much-beloved Archigram projects of the 1960s".

A couple of reviews mentioned how wonderful a speaker Greenfield was. I can see how he has lots of information to draw from. The writing, however, seems to be that of a rambling history professor.

There was too much name dropping and product dropping for me. For sci-fi enthusiasts there's William Gibson, Phillip Dick, Steven Spielberg. Ah, and the Don Norman references; take heart, he eases off on those mid way through the book. He'll be off to another name in the next paragraph, so you won't learn much about them. On the other hand, I guess that could be a starting point for those who wanted to learn more.

I was looking for some psychological or sociological insight, but didn't find it. "Thesis 18: In many circumstances, we can't really conceive of the human being engaging everyware as a "user". Okay, here we go, potential to get some insight here. What do we get - The word "user" is not very good. So how about "subject"? No that's no good either. End of thesis 18.

From the simple "Thesis 24: Everyware, or something very much like it, is effectively inevitable." to the abstract "Thesis 40: The discourse of seamlessness effaces or elides meaningful distinctions between systems." There is something here for everyone. It might just take you awhile to find it.

One of the reasons I like this book was because it was so well written. This guy is deep, a Webster's Collegiate should be close at hand, because your vocabulary will be expanded. Mostly, this book this thoughtful detailed glimpse into the future provided by Moore's Law. At the end of the book the author does a really gutsy thing, he proposes a lengthy persuasive counter argument of the first half of the book. This is a great book and well worth the cost and the investment of time.

The term everyware is defined as the ability to access significant computing power from any location, and does not necessarily mean that computer chips are embedded in everything. Hence the contraction from "everywhere software." While chips may not be embedded in everything, that scenario is certainly possible in the near future, as only two preconditions are necessary.

*) Each tag must be uniquely identifiable. This is currently being enacted, Internet Protocol Version 6 has an address space that would allow every grain of sand on Earth to have multiple, unique addresses.
*) The cost of the embedded chips must drop, the figure most commonly cited is less than five cents.

While the first condition is already being implemented, everyone following the history of computing knows that the second is only a matter of time. Most industry watchers believe that this basic threshold will be reached no later than 2008.
Therefore, there are no significant technological barriers to the implementation of everyware. The question then becomes, "Do we as a society want it?" Certainly, we want the convenience that everyware provides. By monitoring the state of health of our bodies, houses and vehicles, our comfort and safety levels will rise. However, there is an enormous downside to this as well. With the advent of everyware, personal privacy will be even more a thing of the past. It will be possible to know the location of a person at all times, both physically and in cyberspace, the people they are with, what they are doing and what they have purchased. It is also clear that divorce lawyers will try to obtain records of the locations of people in order to try to prove that the opposing spouse is guilty of some form of malfeasance. It will no longer be necessary for spies to hide in vehicles and behind bushes.
This book examines both the positive and negative sides of these issues and summarizes the consequences of what will clearly be a revolution. The laws regarding the use of personal data will have to be substantially rewritten to handle these issues, as the gains of everyware will be too strong to prevent the implementation. I cite as evidence the widespread use of cell phones and other mobile devices. Marketing people would find it easy to identify a customer at a purchase point such as a gas station by the number of their credit card. Once you are identified, the screen on the pump would then display items you are known to favor. The same thing can be done in stores, if you are identified when you walk by or in the store, a sales pitch targeted specifically to you would appear.
The recent disclosure that the American Government is monitoring phone calls points out the potential for good and bad uses for data. Guilt by association is not guilt by fact, yet it easy to see how zealous law enforcement could arrive at the former. Everyware would make that conclusion very easy.
I will be teaching a course in the fundamentals of computing in the fall of 2006. After reading this book, I added it to my required list and will be using it as a secondary text this fall.

"Everyware" is a magnificent, quixotic foray into the future. At once boldly assertive in attempting to define the evolving trend of ubiquitous computing, it's also disarmingly self-effacing as the author describes his own slowness to adopt, and doubts about, the same technology. As an attempt to thoroughly survey the elusive, ever-evolving world of ubiquitous computing, it is a tour de force.

The text is an impressive series of 81 precise "theses" that describe "the dawning age of ubiquitous computing". Each thesis explores, through historical antecedent and incisive contemporaneous analysis, one aspect of the arriving "ubicomp" paradigm which he terms "everyware."

Author Adam Greenfield seems to have presaged nearly all useful comment on the nature and near future direction of ubiquitous computing. Compared to this work, even such transformative declarations as the Cluetrain Manifesto come across as merely sophomoric, though sincere drumbeats.

Greenfield is a facile conceptualist, comfortable with traditional academic discipline yet easily capable of creating significant buzz with an avant garde writing style molded through constant travel and communication with moblogging ubicomp fanatics from Tokyo to Stockholm. A thought leader, and certainly not a follower, he's always eager to cross swords with iconic figures of the new media establishment, or to ally with them.

Greenfield's style is to trace geodesic descriptive arcs around the ever-evolving space of this subject. In his view, "Everyware" is driven in parts by historical dialectic, cultural evolution, technological invention and entrepreneurial testosterone. In each thesis we are tantalized and left wanting more. Many of Greenfield's theses could easily - and should be - developed into full volumes on their own.

The text frequently and informally refers to events, people, objects and technologies both present and past that support or amplify the author's points, bespeaking extensive research and correspondence. Despite this thoroughness, the book lacks citations and bibliography, perhaps in an effort to make the content seem less weighty and more of a visionary discussion.

Predictive today, this book may become increasingly relevant as its grand vision becomes reality. It may be that an historical perspective will be needed to fully appreciate this contribution. Its meaning and value will be different in "middle age" (say 4 years from now) when Greenfield's many predictions can be evaluated against coetaneous events. The final test will be well down the line when the influence of "Everyware" as manifesto can be seen in historical context.

One of the most endearing aspects of Greenfield's style is his own self-effacing, fundamentally human take on subjects large and small. He writes as the daring internationalist conceptual thinker he is, but never loses sight of his own humanity. He often makes an arching, bitingly tight commentary, which is immediately leavened gently by a genuine and warm personal perspective.

Greefield's personal style infuses the work and subtly develops what may be the most important message of the entire work: the urgent need to preserve humanity and user-centricity in the component development of this overwhelmingly complex and centerless computing system, one that may someday control the electronic infrastructure of the 21st century world.

Despite my enthusiasm for it, there IS a serious problem with "Everyware." The great flaw of this book is lack of a central theme. Despite skillful seques from one thesis ending into the next, the book remains a series of essays whose essential points interconnect, leaving the reader with the task of finding the larger common denominator. It's as if the author were describing each brilliant facet of a diamond, without ever describing the gem itself. It may be possible to describe a whole through the intimate dissection of its parts, but it's hard on a reader. I'd prefer reading the same material structured as a series of proofs supporting a central theme. With such backbone, it would be far easier to learn, test and evaluate the theses.

A less important though still serious shortcoming is the author's exclusive reliance on (sometimes overwhelmingly complex) text. Reading "Everyware" is not for the faint of heart, as its concepts do not enter one's consciousness easily. Despite a clear attempt to write simply, Greenfield's style is inherently complex and he often writes with a fairly high "Fog Index." As a result the reader must pay close attention, but the result in stimulation and knowledge is well worth the effort.

Visual learners will find the book difficult going. Despite numerous footnotes, there is not a single illustration or diagram in the work, nor are there more than a few URL references. For an author and design critic who celebrates beauty in his core (see Greenfield's v-2.org), this is a curious, and galling omission. The theses are replete with references to objects and sites we never see, thus forcing the reader to conjure understanding through the exercise of imagination. I found this highly distracting and made it more difficult to read the work.

Such heavy reliance on text works to exclude visually oriented people, many of whom may be involved in the design of ubicomp hardware and software, and who need to get the message. It also seems odd that Greenfield, until recently a practicing information architect, did not at publication prepare a companion "Everyware" website through which readers could see and experience the scores of supportive examples he provides in support of his theses.

To be fair, it may be that Greenfield (and/or his publisher) did not want to commit resources to the visual description of a subject likely to change within months, preferring to aim at more universal points that might survive the roiling rate of evolution in the field. Time and expense may have been an issue for this first time effort (obtaining reproduction rights and creating original artwork can take much time and money).

Having said that, it seems curiously unforgivable that a book that rides the edge of thought about a potentially significant evolution in human thought and technology should be so lacking in employment of that same technology. It seems incomprehensible that the content was not produced and marketed with equally avant-garde methods such as viral marketing, print on demand production that allows frequent updates, e-book or PDF format (with live links) and website support.

Perhaps time was a factor. The book does seem rushed and breathless, as if it were composed in tense moments of brilliance at a Starbucks, or while infused with ideas after a conference. This tone, taken with the exclusion of graphical elements, makes it seem like the author wanted to be the first on the block to announce "everyware'" and to be credited with coinage of the term. Whether this perception is true or not, it does lead to the conclusion that "Everyware" is a well-crafted effort, but one in dire need of a more thoughtfully considered, better-budgeted, and website-supported second edition.

On the other hand, conceptual density and complex sentence structure seem necessary for Greenfield. His mind works so fast and at such a complex level that he literally needs an explosive, quick way to get the ideas out. I hope that in a subsequent edition, the assistance of more patient and less driven editors would enhance and expand the audience for this importantly predictive and analytical work. A richly graphic approach to the next version would further expand the audience for these important ideas.

In deference to both the reader and the essence of ubicomp, perhaps a future edition can be packaged with (or be)a flash device with a web server embedded in it, containing the text and a full library of reference visuals, diagrams and videos that expand and amplify the concept in the book. By using such a device the reader can be plugged into the meaning of "Everyware" not only informationally but experientially.

"Everyware" rates a B PLUS. B for brilliant because Greenfield truly is, and PLUS for being a superb beginning but not (yet) a home run.

As a final note, I feel sure that "Everyware" is not the last word coming from Adam Greenfield on the subject of ubiquitous computing. An emerging movement couldn't have a more passionate, persuasive and skillful evangelist, nor one whose own humanity and affinity for others helps soften the fear of the unknown, and can help convert resistance to change into open-eyed anticipation.

Ubiquitous computing can mean different things to different people, especially without a concise yet comprehensive description. The book contains a series of statements which I feel helps to define or characterize what ubiquitous computing is about and some of its unique features. I found the book helpful in explaining ideas at a non-technical level without being too abstract. Lastly, "everyware" is a really good word that I think does capture the idea of ubiquitous computing well. Instead of people going to the computer to get things done, the computer has come out to where things are done.

Overall, I thought the book was interesting and somewhat thought provoking. However, it didn't seem very concrete. I was actually more interested in the author's website, which was supposed to have links to new information and sources.

That website appears to still be there, but it redirects you almost immediately to the Amazon page for the book. You get a glimpse of the page and then it's gone.

I've got the book. I don't need another copy. I could use newer (and more specific) information.

Everyware covers a lot of ground within the seemingly narrow topic of ubiquitous computing, the not-so-theoretical idea that in the future computers will be embedded into our physical spaces so deeply and thoroughly that meatspace and cyberspace will in many ways become indistinguishable.

I'll just say up front that I think Adam Greenfield is a genius. He's managed to write a technology book woven out of a dozen diverse themes, including futurism, science fiction, culture, art, humanism, and even ethics. The book goes beyond simple technophilia vs. technophobia, and should be a required read for any person interested in even one of the above themes. I don't think it's hyperbolic to predict that some of what Greenfield says in Everyware will be cited and quoted by future thinkers for many years to come as we continue to deal with the ramifications of ubicomp.

In addition to being a scintillating writer (his blog, v-2.org, is fantastic), Adam is a compelling speaker, as well: I had the pleasure of chatting with Adam the South by Southwest conference, and his one-man "panel" presentation of the Everyware concept was riveting and deeply thought-provoking for everyone in the audience.