(2007-07-03) Sterling Hyperlocal

For a taste of what an Open Cell Phone could lead you, vs the closed IPhone, read Bruce Sterling's "Dispatches from the HyperLocal Future" piece (Nations-Lite) - You see, the difference between the old-fashioned Semantic Web and the new HyperLocal Web - that's hyper as in linked, and local as in location - is that the databases of the new Web are stuffed with geographic coordinates. Real positions. Real distances. So the bodyware I carry in my pockets and travel bag broadcasts its location to any device within earshot. (Of course, the RFID chips embedded in everything help the manufacturer get it out the door, but I programmed my own tags so I can't lose anything.) Room Ware - that's houseware to you troglodytes who still live in houses - is the stuff that runs a hotel room. You know, the remotes that control temperature and unlock the liquor cabinet, plus the window overlay that displays the weather forecast and traffic conditions. Street Ware is my mobile's navigator, plus social tags, ad filters, and all those black-and-white BarCode blotches painted on walls like graffiti. City Ware is the next scale up. That's how the Local Government monitors traffic, chases down leaky water mains, and keeps tourists on the straight and narrow. State Ware, nationware, globalware - you get the idea.

"But Mr. Feldspar, suppose this international criminal doesn't carry a Mobile?" demanded representative Chuck Kingston (R-Alabama). It would have been rude to point out the obvious. So I didn't. But look, just between you and me: Anybody without a mobile is not any kind of danger to society. He's a pitiful derelict. Because he's got no phone. Duh. He also has no email, voicemail, pager, chat client, or gaming platform. And probably no maps, guidebooks, Web browser, video player, music player, or radio. No transit tickets, payment system, biometric ID, environmental safety sensor, or Breathalyzer. No alarm clock, camera, laser scanner, navigator, pedometer, flashlight, Remote Control, or hi-def projector. No house key, office key, car key... Are you still with me? If you don't have a mobile, the modern world is a seething jungle crisscrossed by electric fences crowned with barbed wire. A guy without a mobile is beyond derelict. He's a nonperson.