- Who This Book Is For
- What This Book Is About
- Questions This Book Answers
- How This Book Is Organized
What This Book Is About
This book describes a long-coming trend in information technologies called Ubiquitous Computing ("Ubicomp," for short), first described in the early 1990s by Mark Weiser of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) as a research agenda for innovation. It's now seeing substantial commercial impact. I'll provide a more thorough description in Chapter 2, but the short description of Ubicomp is the use of technologies to bridge physical and electronic information spaces to increase efficiencies in our personal, school, and work lives. Ubicomp goes beyond simple mechanical automation, such as antilock brakes and automatic doors, by using sophisticated processes to proactively predict future needs, accurately target information to personal needs, help people reach one another at convenient times, conserve energy resources, remember meetings and encounters in our lives, provide personalized service, and coach us about healthy life choices.