[Air-l] Presence technology

[Ken Friedman]

Dear Colleagues,

Interesting article from New York Times.

Important implications for Internet research.

Ken Friedman



--snip--

You Can Surf, but You Can't Hide

February 7, 2002

By LISA GUERNSEY

MAKING a phone call has always been a game of chance. You
never know whether the person you are calling is available.
You just punch in the numbers and hope to get lucky.

Imagine being able to learn without dialing a single digit
whether another person's phone is in use, or in the case of
a cellphone, whether it is even turned on. Now imagine
being able to do the same thing with any wired or wireless
device of the future - whether it is in the car, in an
airplane or at the gym. Not only could you learn whether a
person is available for a chat, but you could also deduce
what that person might be doing at that exact moment, all
without exchanging a word.

That is the idea behind a programming concept called
presence awareness, which is based on the realization that
appliances on a network can automatically be detected by
other devices.

"The days of phone tag are on the way out," said Sonu
Aggarwal, chief executive of Cordant, a company in
Bellevue, Wash., that develops instant-messaging
technology. "This is a very powerful concept with long-
term implications."

--snip--

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/07/technology/circuits/07HERE.html?ex=1014111810&ei=1&en=50ce88d7f13b4517









-- 

Ken Friedman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design
Department of Leadership and Organization
Norwegian School of Management

Visiting Professor
Advanced Research Institute
School of Art and Design
Staffordshire University