Mark Weiser

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Biography

Mark is best known for his contributions to the field of mobile computing. He is often referred to as the father of Ubiquitous Computing. He coined the term in 1988 to describe a future in which PCs would be replaced with invisible computers embedded in everyday objects. He believed that this would lead to an era of "calm technology," in which technology, rather than panicking us, would help us focus on what is really important to us.[1]. He is known for quotes such as "The purpose of a computer is to help you do something else", that "technology should create calm", and that "the more you can do by intuition the smarter you are; the computer should extend your unconscious".

Weiser is known for several popular articles on early computing such as Open House[2]The Invisible Interface: Increasing the Power of the Environment through Calm Technology[3], Designing Calm Technology[4], and The Computer for the Twenty-First Century[5].

References

  1. Want, Roy. Biography of Mark Weiser. Xerox PARC. http://www-sul.stanford.edu/weiser/Bio.html
  2. Open House (Word Doc Link) from the online journal ITP Review http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/wholehouse.doc
  3. Weiser, Mark. The Invisible Interface: Increasing the Power of the Environment through Calm Technology, keynote speech at CoBuild98. http://www.springerlink.com/content/n5513146535g2n14/
  4. Weiser, Mark. Designing Calm Technology, coauthored with John Seely Brown. http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/calmtech/calmtech.htm
  5. Weiser, Mark. The Computer for the Twenty-First Century. Scientific American, 1991. http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/SciAmDraft3.html