Chapter 17 5. The supplication of the ubiquitous jack-of-all-trades machine

If you're going to hire people to cook for you, clean up, drive the car, light the fire, and keep the gate, can you ask them not to talk to each other, not to notice what everyone else is doing, and not to coordinate their functions? However, when we use machines to perform these functions, we can confidently separate them one by one.Right now, our vacuum cleaners, cars, doorbells, refrigerators, and heating systems are all closed, dedicated systems.When designing, the designer did not intend for them to communicate with each other.The furthest we have come in coordinating the behavior of machines is the incorporation of digital clocks in many appliances.We try to use digital time to synchronize certain functions, but the result is mostly a bunch of whimpering machines, with "12:00" blinking on it as if in the low position:

"Please, find a way to make me smarter!" Machines must be able to talk to each other easily in order to serve humans better.The digitization of the call to find companions has changed the character of the standard for machine-to-machine communication.It used to be that people would gather in Geneva or elsewhere for international conferences to hammer out (a telling metaphor from the industrial age) world standards for everything from spectrum allocations to telecommunications protocols.Sometimes, this process takes a long time, for example, because the telephone standard of Integrated Services Digital Network (1SDN, integratedservicesdigita1network) has been discussed for too long, when the standard is passed, the technology is already outdated.

The operating premise and mindset of standards development committees is that electronic signals are like threads.In order for screws and nuts to be used in different countries, we must agree on every key dimension, instead of only formulating partial standards.Even if you figure out how many threads you should have per inch or centimeter, if the diameter is wrong, the screw and nut will still not fit together.The requirements of the mechanical world in this regard are very demanding. Bit is much more forgiving.Bits are well suited for higher-level language descriptions and "protocols" (protocol, originally meaning "etiquette", which used to refer to the social red tape of the upper class).Some agreements can be specific to specify how two machines "shake hands". The word "handshaking" (handshaking) is actually a technical term for how two machines establish communication and decide which variables to use in the call.

Listen next time you use your fax or modem.All those noises and ugly beeps are actually exchanges between machines.These calls to find companions are trying to negotiate the greatest common denominator of all variables in order to find the widest possible range for swapping bits. At a higher level, we can think of communication protocols as intermediate standards, or languages ​​for negotiating more specific ways of exchanging bits.In Switzerland, where many languages ​​are spoken, if you go skiing alone and take the ski lift with strangers, if you want to talk to your companions, the first thing you must do is to discuss which language to use to communicate.

Televisions and ovens have the same problems with each other before they work together.Little Things That Move Twenty-five years ago, I was invited to sit on an advisory committee to review the final design of the Universal Product Code (UPC).The Universal Product Codes are the little barcodes that computers can read, and you can find them almost everywhere these days, the same thing that made President Bush make a fool of himself.It is said that once, when Bush saw the automatic checkout cash register in the supermarket, he was very surprised, so he was quoted as a joke.With the exception of fresh vegetables, barcodes are now used on almost everything from cans and boxes to books (albeit somewhat spoiling the book binding effect).

The task of this Universal Product Code Advisory Committee is to sign off on the final barcode design.After evaluating several designs that made it to the final round (the little round window was voted runner-up), we also discussed a few crazy but interesting proposals, such as making all food a bit radioactive, radioactive The size depends on the cost, so every checkout counter becomes a Geiger counter (a type of radioactivity meter), and shoppers count according to the number of rads (units of radiation absorbed dose) in their shopping carts. Payment. (A can of regular spinach is estimated to expose you to 1/10th of a microrad per kilogram per hour, compared to the 100,000 joules of chemical energy the body gets from food, which is just a billion One-tenth of a joule. Maybe that's why Popeye eats spinach in his stomach to make his strength stronger.) There is a little wisdom in this crazy idea: why don't we let each upc Can barcodes also radiate data?

Or, why not make it animate and raise its hand like a kindergartener? The reason we can't do this is that it consumes power, so barcodes and other "name tags" are made non-responsive.But in fact, this problem is not impossible to solve, for example, energy can be obtained from light, or use very little energy to extend the service life of the battery.When these methods are used on a small scale, all "things" can be digitally activated.For example, every teacup, every piece of clothing, and (yes, also) every book in your house can tell its place.In the future, "lost" will be the same as "out of print", and it is impossible to happen in real life.

Active tags will play an important role in the future as they will bring non-motorized, inanimate gadgets (such as teddy bears, screw pliers, fruit bowls, etc.) into the digital world.Before long, humans and animals alike will be wearing active tags like badges.And what better Christmas gift than an active pet collar?From now on, you never have to worry about your puppy or kitten getting lost (or, more accurately, they might get lost, but you'll know where they are). People already don active badges for safety's sake.Origets UK is developing a new product.Wearing the badge lets it know where you are no matter where you are in a building.

If someone calls for you, the phone closest to you will ring.In the future, instead of attaching these devices to your clothing (with clips or pins), the devices will be infallibly woven into your clothing or stuck to your clothing.Wearing a computer on my body The future of digital clothing may be corduroy with computing power, muslin with memory power, and solar-powered silk. Instead of carrying a laptop, I will wear it on my body.As incredible as it may sound, we've already started wearing more and more computing and communication devices on our bodies. Watches are the most obvious example of this.It will surely transform from a mere clock today to a mobile command and control center tomorrow.Wearing a watch is such a natural thing that many people wear it even when they sleep.

An all-in-one wrist-worn TV, computer, and telephone will no longer be the preserve of Dick Tracy, Batman, or Captain Kirk.Such wearable devices are likely to be the fastest-growing segment of consumer goods over the next five years. "Timex" (Timex) now provides radio communication between the watch and the personal computer.The watches it makes are expected to be so hot that by then many of Microsoft's systems will incorporate the clever (optical) transmission software. Our ability to power these gadgets will soon outpace the miniaturization of computers.In the field of technology, the progress of power is almost as slow as a turtle.If battery technology had advanced as fast as integrated circuits, we would have driven cars powered by spotlight batteries to work long ago.Quite the contrary, I have to carry over 10 pounds of batteries on my back to keep my laptop from blowing up on long flights.Over time, laptop batteries have gotten heavier as laptops have added more features and better displays. (In 1979, Sony's original laptop computer, the Typecorder, ran on just four AA batteries.) There are likely to be some imaginative solutions to the power problem in wearable computers.Abercrombie and Fitch have launched a travel cap with a small fan powered by solar cells that blows wind onto your forehead.Another great place to store power is your belt.Take the belt off and see how much area and volume it takes up.Imagine if a belt buckle could be designed as a device that could be plugged into the wall to charge a mobile phone!

As for the antenna (antenna), the human body itself can become a part of the antenna.Also, the shape of most antennae makes them ideal for weaving into fabric or wearing like a tie.With a little help from digitization, our ears can be as sensitive as rabbit ears. It's important to recognize that there will be many digital devices in the future, in shapes and sizes that will be very different from what we can imagine today.Computer equipment retailing may not be limited to traditional electronics stores such as RadioShack and siap1es, but also stores selling Nike sports equipment, Levi's jeans or Banana Republic clothing.In the farther future, computer monitors may be sold by the gallon and painted in a variety of colors.CD-ROMs are edible, and parallel processors are slathered on like sunscreen.Occasionally, we can still live inside a computer.Ubiquitous Computerization Since I came from an architectural background, I found many valuable architectural concepts directly applicable to computer design. But computer design, in turn, does little to help architecture beyond filling our environment with smart devices, both visible and invisible.Thinking of buildings as gigantic mechatronic devices has so far inspired little architecturally creative application. The buildings of the future will be as "smartready" as computer backplanes (a term coined by AMP when it launched its "smart house" initiative). "Intelligence is always on call" is to pre-wire and distribute connectors for future signal sharing between electrical appliances.For example, you can add various processors to make your living room sound like Carnegie Hall. Most of the "intelligent environments" I've seen cannot sense human presence.That's the problem with the ever-increasing PC world: there's no way for the environment to see you, or feel your presence.Even the thermostat adjusts the temperature based on the temperature of the wall, not whether you feel hot or cold.The room of the future will know if you just sat down to eat, fell asleep, got into the bathroom, or went out for a walk with the dog.At such times, the phone will not ring.It won't ring if you're not home.If you're home and your digital butler decides to take the call for you, the doorknob closest to you will first say "Excuse me, ma'am," and then take the call. Some have dubbed this situation "ubiquitous computerization."indeed so.Some people think this is against using the proxy interface.actually not.These two concepts are basically the same. The current disconnected computer processes in our lives (airline reservation systems, point-of-sale data, various online services, electronic metering, messaging, etc.) will make personal computers ubiquitous.All processing processes will also increasingly be interconnected.If your morning flight to Dallas is delayed, your alarm will go off later and the vehicle service will automatically receive a traffic forecast. Household robots are absent from most depictions of the future of the home today: an odd shift since, 20 characters ago, nearly all depictions of the future had robots.In fact, the C3PO robot will be a barking butler, and even its accent is perfect. People's enthusiasm for domestic robots will be rekindled, and we can expect future digital servants to climb stairs with legs and feet, dust dust with elbows, and serve drinks with hands.Home robots will also be able to bark like ferocious watchdogs for safety reasons.These are not new ideas, and the technology is almost mature.There may be 100,000 people in the world who are willing to pay 100,000 US dollars to buy such a robot. Such a big market worth tens of billions of dollars will not be left in the cold for too long.Smart Cars Electronics already cost more than steel in a modern car.There are more than 50 types of microprocessors in cars today.That doesn't mean we're using all of these microprocessors wisely.Wouldn't it be embarrassing if you rented a sleek European sedan and didn't realize you didn't know how to electronically open the gas tank until you joined the queue at the gas station! Key digital devices in the car will include smart radios, energy controls and information displays.In addition, cars will enjoy another special benefit of digital technology: they will be able to know where they are. Thanks to recent developments in mapping and tracking technology, we can figure out where a car is currently facing a computer model depicting all the roads.All road locations within the United States can be recorded on one compact disc.Using satellites, hyperbolic long-range navigation systems, and calculating the car's increasing speed, or a combination of these tracking technologies, it is possible to find out the car's bearing to within a few feet.Most people remember that in the car driven by 007 intelligence agent James Bond, there was a computer display system on the dashboard between him and the driver's seat, which would present a map showing his current location and purpose the direction of the ground.This computer display system has now become a widely accepted and used commodity.In the United States, Oldsmobile first adopted this device in 1994. However, there is a small problem.Many drivers, especially older adults, have trouble refocusing their eyes quickly enough to see what's on a computer monitor in a fast-moving car.It is very difficult for them to go from looking at a distance suddenly to looking at an object only 2 feet away from them (and do this switch repeatedly).To make matters worse, some people had to wear glasses to read the map, and it was Mr. Magoo driving.Therefore, sound is a better way to assist navigation. Since you don't use your ears at all while driving, your ears serve as ideal conduits for telling you when to turn, what signs to look for, and if you see something you're driving too far.However, representing directions accurately is quite a challenge (humans are terrible at this because it's hard). The road is full of vague instructions."Turn right at the next exit" when you are several hundred feet or yards away from the sign The instructions are very clear, but when you have driven near the road sign, does the "next exit" refer to the exit in front of you or the next exit? While it's possible to make this digital, talking, good "backseat driver," it's unlikely we'll see one in the US market anytime soon.Instead, what you'll see is the exact same contraption that's on Bond's car, whether it should or shouldn't, safe or not.The reason for this is absurd: If a car can talk to you, and the map data it provides is wrong, so that you drive into a one-way street with no exit and get into an accident, who is to blame?Conversely, if you have an accident because you looked at the map, you can only blame yourself for bad luck.In Europe, people have a more liberal view of compensation and litigation, so Mercedes-Benz will introduce a talking navigation system this year. The navigation system will do more than get you from point A to point B, it will also provide audio guides (“The building on your right is the birthplace of…”) and information about accommodation (already A great hotel is booked for you near the 3rd exit.) A new corresponding specialized market will appear.In fact, if your smart car is ever stolen in the future, it can call you and tell you exactly where it is.Maybe it still sounded like it was terrified.