Anthrobotics Reading Group
Friday 27 January 2017
Informatics Forum
Room 1.16
9.30 to 11
Light breakfast included
contact: luis.demiranda@ed.ac.uk
Ubiquitous is no longer the name of God, but the quality of the global digital connectome. The intertwining of interconnected devices with human agency and existence is central to the anthrobotic questioning.
Our special guest will be Simon Montford, former entrepreneur in residence at Edinburgh University, who writes: ‘Recently I have become increasingly concerned about the control and dominance of a few companies that currently have an oligopoly over all the data that’s being harvested, stored and exploited. I am, however, convinced that the Internet of Things will deliver huge value in terms of convenience, efficiency, and ecology.’ Simon’s a London-born entrepreneur, co-founder of a wearable technology startup, and founder of WEB3//IOT (www.web3iot.com). He is the community manager of Internet of Things Scotland Meetup Group.
To warm-up for the session, we will read Bruce Sterling’s very short essay, The Epic Struggle of the Internet of Things, in which he writes: ‘The first thing to understand about the “Internet of Things” is that it’s not about Things on the Internet. […] Digital commerce and governance is moving, as fast as it possible can, into a full-spectrum dominance over whatever used to be analogue. In practice, the Internet of Things means an epic transformation: all-purpose electronic automation through digital surveillance by wireless broadband.’