Found Objects: A View From a Room [Bits Versus Electrons]

Abstract

I was comfortable in my nice hospi ta l room after elective surgery. Then I realized that I could turn the lights in my house on and off, but I couldn’t control the window shade across the room from me. It made me think about the Internet, and I realized it wasn’t simply that I was able to connect to the device in my house. I had cobbled together a path from my device, a smartphone, to the lights and other devices in my house. Before I go further, I need to set some expectations. This isn’t merely the story of how I can remotely turn my lights on or off. It’s about the future of consumer electronics (CE) because software allows users to take advantage of today’s complex technologies without having to wait for a manufacturer to create just the right product. The key is having an architecture that allows the developer or the prosumer (i.e., advanced user) to focus on the problem at hand and think only about the endpoints of each interaction without getting lost in the “between.” That very idea has made the Internet what it is. This is not (just) a story about home automation. It is almost the opposite, in the sense that it provides an understanding of how we can mix and match elements rather than having to carefully engineer systems as a single whole. Finally, I am not making a sharp distinction between user and developer. Very few of the users will be developers, but the few who are can share what they create and build on the work of others as long as the architectural principles are respected. By limiting the dependencies between elements, we can improve agility and the ability to mix and match. Even something as simple as saying “that” switch turns on “that” light builds on these principles, which are increasingly important with the growing number of smart devices that need to interoperate.