5 Appearing at SXSW on 12 March

Just wanted to mention that I’ll be giving a talk on Everyware on 12 March in Austin TX, as part of this year’s SXSW Interactive festival. By all means, come say hi.

3 Everyware

Something I’m very excited about right now is the upcoming publication of my first book, Everyware: The dawning age of ubiquitous computing, due out in just a few weeks from Peachpit Press/AIGA.

Everyware deals with the challenge of post-PC computing in all its forms, from the RFID tags now embedded in everything from soda cans to the family pet, to smart buildings that subtly adapt to the changing flow of visitors, to gestural interfaces like the ones seen in Minority Report.

Some of what you’ll find inside is a discussion of what we mean when we say “ubiquitous computing,” including my definition of the field, at its most robust, as “information processing dissolving in behavior”; whether it’s truly an immediate concern or a “hundred-year problem”; what different sorts of everyware might emerge in differing cultures; and, of course, an extended exploration of the social and ethical implications of this most insinuative of technologies.

Everyware is pitched to the smart generalist, as opposed to people with a technical background - which is to say that, if you’ve read and enjoyed the other things I’ve written, you’ll probably get a lot out of it, whether or not you have any particular interest in information technology. Given that one of my major ambitions for the book is to give the people who will be affected by ubiquitous technology a stake in the discussion of it, I’ve tried to keep technical details and jargon to a necessary minimum. Above all, I’ve tried to make sure that my treatment of the subject is well-grounded in the things that matter to us most in everyday life: bodies, conversations, rooms, and streets.

Needless to say, I’m hugely excited by the prospect of publication, and can’t wait to see what you-all bring to the discussion - your challenges, responses, points of agreement and of divergence. If you’re even a little bit as stoked as I am, I encourage you to pre-order Everyware via the Amazon link above, which is the quickest practical way to get your hands on it as soon as it sees the light of day.

My hope is that Everyware will give its readers - especially those readers not particularly technically inclined - the tools to understand the next computing, so we can begin making wise decisions about its emergence. Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be posting a lot more about the book, including downloads and information on where I’ll be making appearances in support of it.