Gadget in a Pervasive World [EF#3]

Bismillaah…

Before we get start, please refer to the dialog below.

———————————
(On Whatsapp)

A: Could you please check our monthly bills? Water, electricity, tv cable, and also the internet. I left my notes at the office. Now I am on my way to home. But I am afraid that I can not make it in time to process all of those stuffs when I arrive.

B: OK… Where do I can find those IDs, Dad?

A: You can check it at your Mom’s tablet. I wrote some important notes there.

B: Got it. I am sending you the invoices… and… ok, sent. Now I have to continue my last checkpoint.

A: Thank you.

A: Wait a second… Hey hey hey… What time is it? You should finish your homework with your friends. You said that the topic itself is not something that you can do, alone. Isn’t it?

B: Relax, Dad. I have done a conference with my circle by using our console. The papers, presentation, and also the rest documentation have already saved to the drive. Everything should be fine.

A: OK then, it is up to you. But do not forget that you have a running schedule with me tomorrow morning. Just prepare your tracker, and our selfie stick. Ha ha ha…

B: Ah… I forgot.

———————————

What do we get from the simple conversation above? Yes, we are surrounded by technologies. We live in a time when all of our activities increasingly facilitated by digital platforms. On our daily life, we always keep in touch with our devices. While working, at home, on shopping, and even while we are sleeping.

Pervasive Computing

But, some of us really do not recognize it. Sometimes, we do interact with our gadgets as its normal state. I mean, we do not even think about the background processes that involved. We do not even care about the number of commands that will be executed when we press a “play” button on our smart TV. We might not need to imagine what kind of algorithm which is run by our fuzzy washing machine. That is because gradually, we will not realize it as is used to be.

Some unimaginable weird metaphors years ago have become so common now. Our personal data has been spread out widely throughout an area or a group of people, or maybe even across the world already. Each component of our daily necessities has its own digital computational processes. It happens all over the place, omnipresence, ubiquity, everywhere, anywhere, and completely integrated with everyday life. That is why we used to call it as pervasive computing.

Gadget and its role

When we are talking about pervasive computing, also known as ubiquitous computing, the digital devices are always shown up. In a broad sense, the digital ubiquity devices may vary, both in term of generic configurable, and naturally portable with any types of item. The item consists of two models, handheld (wearable and small-middle sized device), and embedded system (integrated with large sized appliance). In time, those items have been known as gadget.

Gadget has a specific function, but habitually more general in usage. We use the gadget to get our social life improved. We use our gadget to get any information from all over the world. We are even using our gadget to make our life easier. So that, the gadget will always be engaged as a part of pervasive computing.

Where are we?

Pervasive computing has not reached its final form yet. We will always find a new spot on our activities that can be integrated into a ubiquitous environment. But the technology itself can not always simplify our needs. It could be more complicated when our manner has not to be placed properly. Normally, we are not bringing our real life into the cyberspace. We are the one who bringing them into our life. It should be like that.

But occasionally, it does not seem easy to implement. Once the overall business processes integrated, it means pervasive computing has its “day”. In fact, we never know what the future holds. Our needs are always be improved from one little thing to the various bigger ones. It is not easy to say that today is the future. One for sure is, someday, what we would call “today” is not today anymore. Time goes by. Years pass through. And the technology will always evolve.

———————————

This post is a submission for BEC’s English Friday, 3^rd topic: How Gadget Affects Your Life.

———————————
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing
http://www.infosysblogs.com