images Thesis 20

Everyware unavoidably invokes the specter of multiplicity.

One word that should bedevil would-be developers of everyware is "multiple," as in multiple systems, overlapping in their zones of influence; multiple inputs to the same system, some of which may conflict with each other; above all, multiple human users, each equipped with multiple devices, acting simultaneously in a given space.

As we've seen, the natural constraints on communication between a device and its human user imposed by a one-to-one interaction model mean that a PC never has to wonder whether I am addressing it, or someone or -thing else in our shared environment. ...

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