Friday, July 29, 2005
SOUSVEILLANCE| If technology continues to evolve along current lines, then Big Brother will end up being far more powerful than Orwell envisaged (in the sense that we will have far less individual privacy). In a world of matchbox-sized MPeg4 camcorders and cameraphones, of always-on broadband and RFID, your next-door neighbours will be the nemesis of privacy. |Usability Views|
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2:36:00 PM
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TOWARD A WEB OS| The real transformation under way is more akin to what Sun's John Gage had in mind in 1988 when he famously said, "The network is the computer." He was talking about the company's vision of the thin-client desktop, but his phrase neatly sums up the destiny of the Web: As the OS for a megacomputer that encompasses the Internet, all its services, all peripheral chips and affiliated devices from scanners to satellites, and the billions of human minds entangled in this global network. This gargantuan Machine already exists in a primitive form. In the coming decade, it will evolve into an integral extension not only of our senses and bodies but our minds.Today, the Machine acts like a very large computer with top-level functions that operate at approximately the clock speed of an early PC. It processes 1 million emails each second, which essentially means network email runs at 1 megahertz. Same with Web searches. Instant messaging runs at 100 kilohertz, SMS at 1 kilohertz. The Machine's total external RAM is about 200 terabytes. In any one second, 10 terabits can be coursing through its backbone, and each year it generates nearly 20 exabytes of data. Its distributed "chip" spans 1 billion active PCs, which is approximately the number of transistors in one PC.
This planet-sized computer is comparable in complexity to a human brain. Both the brain and the Web have hundreds of billions of neurons (or Web pages). Each biological neuron sprouts synaptic links to thousands of other neurons, while each Web page branches into dozens of hyperlinks. That adds up to a trillion "synapses" between the static pages on the Web. The human brain has about 100 times that number - but brains are not doubling in size every few years. The Machine is.
Since each of its "transistors" is itself a personal computer with a billion transistors running lower functions, the Machine is fractal. In total, it harnesses a quintillion transistors, expanding its complexity beyond that of a biological brain. It has already surpassed the 20-petahertz threshold for potential intelligence as calculated by Ray Kurzweil. For this reason some researchers pursuing artificial intelligence have switched their bets to the Net as the computer most likely to think first. Danny Hillis, a computer scientist who once claimed he wanted to make an AI "that would be proud of me," has invented massively parallel supercomputers in part to advance us in that direction. He now believes the first real AI will emerge not in a stand-alone supercomputer like IBM's proposed 23-teraflop Blue Brain, but in the vast digital tangle of the global Machine.
In 10 years, the system will contain hundreds of millions of miles of fiber-optic neurons linking the billions of ant-smart chips embedded into manufactured products, buried in environmental sensors, staring out from satellite cameras, guiding cars, and saturating our world with enough complexity to begin to learn. We will live inside this thing. |Wired Magazine|
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Monday, July 25, 2005
REALITY MINING| Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you're going to do next. At least, these are the capabilities of 100 customized phones given to students and employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- and they may be coming soon to your cell phone. The phones were part of Reality Mining, a Ph.D. project by MIT Media Lab researcher Nathan Eagle, who handed out the devices as a way to document the lives of students and employees of MIT, ranging from first-year undergrads and MBA students to Media Lab employees and professors. |Putting People First|
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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
HOW AMERICANS SEARCH| A recent study from Harris Interactive shines interesting light on the behavior and preferences of Americans when searching the web.The study, commissioned by search marketing firm icrossing, was put together based on interviews with more than 2,100 adults. The findings show that search continues to be a popular online activity, with more than 50% reporting that they searched every time they went online.
What are people searching for? Most people (88%)said they were researching specific topics—specifically, information about hobbies. And women (61%) were more likely to search for health and medical information than men (35%). Surprisingly few people researching specific topics are looking for job or career information (28%).
Other common things people use search for include:
* Getting directions/maps - 75%
* Looking for news - 64%
* Shopping - 51%
* Looking for entertainment web sites - 47%
The study also affirmed data from the major measurement services, showing Google as the most popular search engine, followed by Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask Jeeves. However, the types of information people looked for with each engine varied.
For Ask Jeeves and MSN users, searching for health information is the most popular reason for researching a specific topic. Google users, by contrast, like to look for news and current event information. Google users also tend to use search for business or professional research more than other search engine users. |Smartmobs|
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7:42:00 PM
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Sunday, July 10, 2005
RELINQUISHING CONTROL| Again and again, the history of the Web shows us the value of relinquishing control. Amazon's customer comments were originally thought foolish by those who believed negative reviews would hurt sales. Instead, they increased trust, which drove more transactions. eBay's open marketplace eschews centralized control of buyers and sellers, instead favoring a distributed management system where individuals rate one another. Not coincidentally, Google, Amazon, and eBay have all made available their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) so that others can leverage their information in unforeseen and innovative ways.
Many designers find it remarkably difficult to relinquish control. As Jeff found out when judging an interactive design competition, designers will go to great lengths to control the user's experience - popping up windows or resizing them, placing everything within Flash, cueing music. They get so caught up in controlling the superficial form of the product that they neglect to appreciate the context of the experience.
The Web's lesson is that we have to let go, to exert as little control as necessary. What are the fewest necessary rules that we can provide to shape the experience? Where do people, tools, and content come together? How do we let go in a way that's meaningful and relevant to our business? |Peter Merholz| |Adaptive Path|
Many designers find it remarkably difficult to relinquish control. As Jeff found out when judging an interactive design competition, designers will go to great lengths to control the user's experience - popping up windows or resizing them, placing everything within Flash, cueing music. They get so caught up in controlling the superficial form of the product that they neglect to appreciate the context of the experience.
The Web's lesson is that we have to let go, to exert as little control as necessary. What are the fewest necessary rules that we can provide to shape the experience? Where do people, tools, and content come together? How do we let go in a way that's meaningful and relevant to our business? |Peter Merholz| |Adaptive Path|
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8:06:00 PM
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