The Computer for the 21st Century

Mark Weiser (PARC), 1991 Summary. High-level speculation on how computers should become:

ubiquitous to the level of hundreds per room
invisible in that the technology blends seamlessly into the human environment.

The paper is a quick yet thoughtful read; I would recommend just reading it rather than this summary.

Some interesting points/quotes in the paper:

Opening line: The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.
- Ex: writing.
- Antithesis: virtual reality, "focuses an enormous apparatus at simulating the world rather than on invisibly enhancing the world that already exists." (This paper is anti-virtual reality, however.)
Technological challenges:
- network bandwidth and channel bandwidth for wireless networks (this was in 1991, remember).
- large display capabilities: high resolution for large displays.
- battery challenges for computers in portable objects.
- window systems which allow the app to move from computer to computer.
Describes the PARCTab project (tabs, pads and boards). "One way to think of a pad is the antidote for windows. Windows were invented at PARC and popularized by Apple... as a way of fitting several different activities onto the small space of a computer screen at the same time... but who would ever use a desk whose surface area is only 9" by 11"?"
"By pushing computers into the background, embodied virtuality will make individuals more aware of the people on the other ends of their computer links. This development carries the potential to reverse the unhealthy centripetal forces that conventional personal computers have introduced into life and the workplace. Even today, people holed up in windowless offices before glowing computer screens may not see their fellows for the better part of each day....Ubiquitous computers, in contrast, reside in the human world and pose no barrier to personal interactions. If anything, the transparent connections that they offer between different locatins and times may tend to bring communities closer together." (Italics mine.)
"...Sociologically, ubiquitous computing may mean the decline of the computer addict." They cite crystal radio set hacking and state they're rare now because radios are ubiquitous.