Ubiquitous computing (or ubicomp) is the label for a "third                  wave" of computing technologies. Following the eras of the mainframe computer                  and the desktop PC, ubicomp is characterized by small and powerful computing devices                  that are worn, carried, or embedded in the world around us. The ubicomp research                  agenda originated at Xerox PARC in the late 1980s; these days, some form of that                  vision is a reality for the millions of users of Internet-enabled phones, GPS                  devices, wireless networks, and "smart" domestic appliances. In Divining a Digital                  Future, computer scientist Paul Dourish and cultural anthropologist Genevieve Bell                  explore the vision that has driven the ubiquitous computing research program and the                  contemporary practices that have emerged--both the motivating mythology and the                  everyday messiness of lived experience.Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of                  the authors' collaboration, the book takes seriously the need to understand ubicomp                  not only technically but also culturally, socially, politically, and economically.                  Dourish and Bell map the terrain of contemporary ubiquitous computing, in the                  research community and in daily life; explore dominant narratives in ubicomp around                  such topics as infrastructure, mobility, privacy, and domesticity; and suggest                  directions for future investigation, particularly with respect to methodology and                  conceptual foundations.

Divining a Digital Future: Mess and Mythology in Ubiquitous Computing PDF

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