The Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC, and the original Internet of things Tinnell, John creator text bibliography biography Biographies. ilu 2023 monographic eng

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347 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm "As a pioneer of ubiquitous computing-the embedding of technology in everyday objects from thermostats to doorbells-computer scientist Mark Weiser's descriptions of smart homes, now thirty years later, might seem to approach our reality. Weiser's views certainly influenced our technology's developers-his 1991 Scientific American article "The Computer for the 21st Century" was flagged a must-read by Microsoft's Bill Gates and then circulated among the day's digirati, including those Silicon Valley insiders who crowded his beer garden-based "office hours". Unlike many of his contemporaries, Weiser's vision was motivated by the philosophies of Michael Polanyi and Martin Heidegger, collaboration with anthropologists such as Lucy Suchman, and insights from artists including Natalie Jeremijenko. He hoped to realize "tacit computing" as an escape from a single attention-grabbing screen as a portal to work, entertainment, and education. When rivals such as Nicholas Negroponte at MIT's Media Lab championed the development of smart agents (the ancestors of Siri and Alexa) or pervasive sensing in wearable technologies (proto-Fitbits or Apple Watches), Weiser balked. Weiser wanted computers to be something closer to the white cane a person with low vision might use to navigate the world. Good technology, he argued, should not mine our experiences for data to sell or demand our attention. Technology should not rob its users of the hardships that establish their expertise, but instead give them the ability to conceive of the world in new ways. In this compelling biography of a person and idea, digital studies scholar John Tinnell shows Weiser, who died of cancer at 46, would be heartbroken if he had lived to see the ways we use technology today. Informed by deep archival research and interviews with Weiser's family and Xerox PARC colleagues, this book uses Weiser's life to offer a new history of today's technological reality, an inside view of Xerox PARC during its heyday, and a compelling vision of what computers failed to be"-- Introduction Googleville -- Messy Systems -- The Innovator as a Young Seeker -- Asymmetrical Encounters -- Tabs, Pads, and Boards -- One Hundred Computers per Room -- Retreat -- Tacit Inc. -- The Dangling String -- Smarter Ways to Make Things Smart -- A Form of Worship. John Tinnell. Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-332) and index. n-us--- Weiser, Mark Weiser, Mark D 1952-1999 Xerox PARC (Firm) PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) Computer software industry United States Biography Industria del software Estados Unidos Internet Social aspects Internet Aspectos sociales Digital communications United States Biography Comunicaciones digitales Estados Unidos Biografía HD 9696.63 T591p 2023 338.7/610053092 9780226757209 (cloth) 022675720X (cloth) 2022045649 ICU/DLC 220921 20260820170443.0 22797673 eng