By David Golan (February 19, 2009) (week 4 non-human post,week 4 reading response)

-It seems that the greatest challenges for technology to reach ambient intelligence is ubiquitous computing and having a single communication protocol for all technologies. A massive collaboration must occur among the technology leaders and manufacturers of the world to provide everyone with the same device, or a series of devices that all know how to communicate with each other. This kind of undertaking might inevitably cause a great rift between the classes of “haves” and “have-nots,” those who have access to/own the device, and those who cannot afford it or live in third-world countries. I also see the inevitability of a monopoly forming for the manufacturer of such devices – they all have to be the same if they are to work seamlessly together. This makes me think of the Mac vs. PC argument. Both brands of computers can share data with each other, such as jpegs, mp3s, word documents, etc., but applications cannot be shared and they are fundamentally different in their approach to software, namely the OS. Apple makes and maintains both the hardware and the OS, yet other companies, such as Dell, create the PC hardware and Microsoft makes the software. I think as Apple gains momentum in the market, and other PC companies start to allow people to customize the look of their computers, such as choosing the color casing for your Dell, computers start to take on their own personality and could potentially become the necessary companion to humans as the mediator for ambient networks.

-What if our pants communicated with us? What if it knew it was being worn or was sitting in a closet, and perhaps had a pedometer to tell us how long we wore it leisurely vs. actively? I think each individual pair of pants would be jealous of the one that I currently had on, as all pants’ objectives are to be of use and be worn as often as possible. All my blue jeans would fight for the position of my “favorite pair.” My pants would provide arguments for why I should choose them on any particular day, and remind me of how well they fit or looked in particular situations, such as my nice khakis for a date or my waterproof pair for the snow. They would communicate through text on a screen, because providing pants a voice (audio) would be really awkward in the morning and delay my choice. Each par of pants would also record how many steps I took, or whether I ran, walked, or sat with them, and try to give me feedback of my activity. Perhaps they would try to persuade me to be more active with them, so that I get more exercise during the day. The pants would act like old friends that I either see and “hang with” everyday, or that I have been neglecting and need to make time for. If the pants no longer fit, I would promise to find them a new home and a new user who will give them more attention.