One of Sam's "I Think" topics talks about having the internet everywhere-- having it hooked up to the microwave so you can start dinner from your car, ping your socks, transmit a camera image of your front door to you in your office so you can let the plumber in to work on your pipes when you're not physically there, and much, much more. I read an article on this is some net magazine not too long ago that reveals this as not the witty, wild fantasy of our imaginative web guru, but a reality not too far in the future.

One of the examples the article gives on the convenience of an omnipresent internet was that of a man driving to work and a [vital car part] is about to die on his car. The [computer thing] detects this pending event and:

-contacts the nearest garage and makes an appointment
-contacts the folks who make the part and order one for rush delivery
-reshedule all of the car owner's meetings

Wow!

The article also goes on to describe how the internet will be part of our walls, our chairs, our cars, and how everything we do may be recorded and played back.

What amazes me most, however, is that the author only mentioned privacy issues as an offhand remark, an afterthought, and only to say that there would be some privacy issues, of course.

Some?

The idea of the omnipresent internet is intreguing, but it makes me nervous. I'm interested to see how the technology develops, and how the moving forces come to terms with the "Big Brother" concept.

Tyler

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."