Ubiquitous Computing for Business

04/11/2011 · No Responses

Ubiquitous Computing (“UbiComp”) is the next game-changing technology. In Ubiquitous Computing for Business, PARC UbiComp pioneer Bo Begole shows you how to successfully incorporate it into your products, services, processes, and strategies. Begole introduces UbiComp’s component technologies, thoroughly illuminates its potential impact, and demonstrates how to achieve real competitive advantage with it.

From the Back Cover
“Distilling research over a score of years, Bo nicely describes Ubiquitous Computing’s tremendous business potential.”
–Gordon Bell, author of Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything

“In a field where there remains a surprising paucity of authoritative reference works in print, Bo Begole’s detailed and comprehensive overview stands out.”
–Adam Greenfield, Managing Director of Urbanscale; author of Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing

“Finally, a comprehensive and wonderfully clear articulation of Ubiquitous Computing….”
–John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist of Xerox Corp. and Director of Xerox PARC

“For innovating in an ever more uncertain world, Bo Begole shows us that computing power everywhere has emerged as the essential foundation.”
–Michael Useem, Professor of Management and Director of the Leadership Center, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; author of The Go Point: When It’s Time to Decide

“Few people on the planet know more about Ubiquitous Computing and context awareness than Bo Begole.”
–Justin Rattner, Intel Chief Technology Officer and Director of Intel Labs

“Ubiquitous Computing was coined at PARC decades ago, and the vision has continued to evolve here since.”
–Teresa Lunt Director of Computer Science Laboratory, Palo Alto Research Center

“Coming from the birthplace of Ubiquitous Computing at PARC, Dr. Begole’s excellent introduction to this growing technology is approachable, interesting, well-informed, and humorous.”
–John Krumm, Microsoft Research; Editor of Ubiquitous Computing Fundamentals

“Ubiquitous Computing for Business takes the potential value in Ubicomp technology and makes its value real.”
–Mike Kuniavsky, author of Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design

“On par with the business impact of laser printing, the Ethernet, and personal computing, this new paradigm of Ubiquitous Computing is revolutionizing the ways businesses exchange information and interact with customers.”
–Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox Chief Technology Officer and President of the Xerox Innovation Group

From the Web to the iPod, cell phones to social networks, a few extraordinary technologies have changed the world, enabling massive new industries and destroying companies that couldn’t adapt. It’s about to happen again, thanks to new Ubiquitous Computing (“Ubicomp”) technologies that will interweave computing more deeply into human life than ever before.

Bo Begole stands at the center of the Ubicomp revolution: He leads the team at the legendary Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) that invented the paradigm and are creating and commercializing its technologies. In Ubiquitous Computing for Business, Begole briefs you on everything you must know to drive breakout value from Ubicomp technologies.

Begole maps the emerging landscape of Ubicomp, explaining how it reinforces and redirects other societal trends. Next, he helps you identify exceptional opportunities to profit from Ubicomp in internal processes, supply chains, and external products and services. Along the way, he helps executives, strategists, technology managers, and entrepreneurs make better decisions about everything from “build vs. buy” to risk mitigation.

Embedding Ubicomp into higher-value offerings…
…or spinning Ubicomp solutions into whole new businesses
Helping users, not bewildering them
Leveraging pervasive devices, networks, and data to deliver services people want
Touching, moving, grasping, and beyond
Replacing mice and windows with Reality-Based Interaction (RBI)
How to win in a Ubicomp world–or at least avoid losing
Preparing for the collision of digital and physical worlds