March 16, 2003
Tomorrow Now

[Forgot to post this earlier. It was in Draft limbo....]

This panel is with Bruce Sterling & Derek Woodgate.

Brief notes:

Open Spectrum - Sterling -> Coming on strong. Symptomatic of the social struggle between law & order and the multitudes. The people who are running the spectrum allocation are concerned. Motorola Canopy, a tower spewing radio over an area. (not sure of the point here) If wireless data people could get access to the good spectrum, they could do wonders.

Woodgate -> The tipping point is the car. Hard drives in the car standard in 2007. Satellite radio is dying. More work in the wide area.

Sterling asks 'Where's the business model?' There is no model. Death of ISPs & portals are a problem. Traditional media & business is clueless . 'How many times to these guys get punished?'

Round of applause about Americans reading other countries news to learn about what's happening in America.

There may permanently be no business model. Everything (news/information) may be free, but it may be incorrect/bad.

Woodgate -> Look at drivers. Entertainment is still a valid driver. Moeny will flow to entertainment. Money will also flow into security.

(running out of battery...)

Ubiquitous Computation - Sterling -> Example is traffic monitoring. In London put video cams in town to enforce the permitting. The problem is mission creep. If the 'security people' can use this system, it's a problem. Privacy suffers from so much technology.

Woodgate -> Positive aspects. The everywhere aspect and the invisible aspect. Wearable & wireless computing is coming. Materials Connection, some cool company. They travel the world looking for new physical materiels.

Technology needs to be invisible for people expect it to do something for them.

UviJunk - Embedded technology that does't work or is outdated, in things that are being used. Tech in a chair or room. What happens when you have an outdated intelligent car?

Open source in manufacturing - Sterling -> What happens when you can get foamed aluminum at Home Depot? What happens to GM is people can make their own cars? Would a $400 car wreck the car industry? What are we going to do when hackers can build 'stuff' and not just DVD ripping software.

Woodgate -> Yes, it is concerning. Community structures are place this will change. A break down of traditional centers, an increase of the connection between individuals. A different attitude toward work & play. People want more

(Out of batteries - sorry)

Posted by michael at March 16, 2003 09:00 AM