A3HauckOrinPitts

A3HauckOrinPitts

To Do

• please work as a group (minimum: 2 members; max: 6 members) and submit one answer as a group (clearly identifying the members of your group)
• identify one focused topic within the chapter which is of greatest interest to your group!
• each group member: should identify one additional source relevant to the topic chosen!
• each group: provide a two page max summary statement in our course environment (mention the additional resources identified)
• prepare a short presentation to the class for the class meeting on Sept 17! the groups can choose how to present their results (oral only; use slides; one member, several members, or all members); time allocation (will be dependent of the numbers of groups: but somewhere between 4 and 10 minutes)

Form for your response

1. Herbert Simon

Mason Hauck, Amanda Orin, Stephanie Pitts

2. Most interesting idea/concept you learned from the article?

Mobility vs. Ubiquity:

Mobility and ubiquity are two very separate topics, but as technology advances it is difficult to talk about them separately. In his paper, "Mobility vs. Ubiquity: What Does the User Really Want?", Steven Shepard outlines some of the issues that arise from these two somewhat confusing terminologies. Ubiquity itself is the infrastructure which can allow for mobility. For technology to be ubiquitous it can be everywhere all the time. Shepard uses the example of internet service from the bottom of the grand canyon its cliffs without interruption. Mobility in and of itself refers to being able to use technology on the go. (Pitts)

As computing technology has progressed, the range of jobs that are being done using digital devices has exploded. For every new application that is created in the digital world, people see a number of possibilities for new uses of computers. This expansion has quickly led to a society in which use of technology has expanded, but the demands of users on digital technology has expanded even more quickly. As this growth has gone on, it has become clear that different approaches must be taken in solving problems in different domains. For example, a cellular phone which incorporates instant messaging and web browsing has very different hardware and software requirements than a web server hosting web access to a large database. The cellular phone is an example of movement of technology in the direction of mobility, a device that can be carried everywhere but has more limited capability than a device such as a personal computer. At the other end of the spectrum would be the web server, a more ubiquitous device that provides access to its functionality over the internet and therefore can be used from a great range of locations. The way in which such a device is implemented lets it be used without the user being aware of it, as Mark Weiser puts it, "It is invisible, everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of any sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere.". Ultimately, computing is not going to move exclusively to mobile technologies or ubiquitous technologies, rather, there will always be a symbiotic balance between the two realms. Without mobile technologies, there can be no way to access an ubiquitous system from limitless locations, and without ubiquitous technologies, there is no information for mobile devices to access beyond what is physically stored on the device. (Hauck)

A cell phone is mobile technology, while bookstores having WIFI is an example of ubiquitous technology. Shepard advocates for both but puts to rest some common misconceptions about the two words and how both issues should be approached from both user and provider stand points. Probably one of the most interesting arguments that he makes is that because these two terms are often used interchangeably that issues regarding both are commonly overlooked. The most compelling is definitely the cost of WIFI vs. DSL and how stores that try to provide "mobility" are really providing ubiquity and a much higher cost to them then is really necessary. (Pitts)

In contrast to distinguishing the difference between mobility and ubiquity, "Mobility = Ubiquity" discusses how you cannot have mobility without first having ubiquity. This is because, as he (a blogger by the name of "jonno") explains, that while mobility may yield a sense of ubiquity, it is not seamless (but rather jumpy and sporadic as your mobile devices hop from one connection to the next) and therefore limits this idea of mobility. (Orin)

3. articulate what you did not understand in the article but it sounded interesting and you would like to know more about it

"Mobility vs. Ubiquity: What Does the User Really Want?" - http://www.shepardcomm.com/mobility-ubiquity-wp.pdf (Stephanie Pitts) - visited 09/15/08

"Ubiquitous Computing" - http://sandbox.xerox.com/ubicomp/ (Mason Hauck) - visited 9/15/08

"Mobility = Ubiquity" - http://www.joncollins.net/wordpress/2006/02/26/mobility-ubiquity/ (Amanda Orin) - visited 09/15/08