IP: You Can Surf, but You Can't Hide

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> At 8:23 -0800 2/7/02, Jim March wrote:
> > From: "Jim March" <jim.march () officetux com>
> > To: "Dewayne Hendricks" <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> >
> >
> > February 7, 2002
> > You Can Surf, but You Can't Hide
> > By LISA GUERNSEY
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/07/technology/circuits/07HERE.html>
auto-abstract

[Note: This item comes from reader Jim March. DLH]

Now imagine being able to do the same thing with any wired or>wireless 
device of the future --- whether it is in the car, in an airplane or>at the 
gym.

Not only could you learn whether a person is available for a>chat, but you 
could also deduce what that person might be doing at that>exact moment, all 
without exchanging a word.

"This is a very powerful concept with long>term implications."

>Many software developers predict that presence technology will become 
almost>as ubiquitous as communication devices themselves.

Nokia (news/quote) and Ericsson (news/quote), among>several other 
telecommunications companies, are also developing the>technology, for use 
in either land-line or wireless phones.

>Katelyn Y. A. McKenna, an assistant professor at New York University 
who>conducts research on Internet relationships, has found that people 
are>comforted when they can see the distant movements of people from their 
inner>circles, like family and friends.

>"You could see that you could instantaneously reach these people if you 
need>them," Dr. McKenna said.

"I know my mother would be extremely reassured if>she could see, `Oh, she's 
off the plane; her cellphone came on; she's>landed.'

>But along with comfort comes the unnerving feeling of being watched, 
a>lesson that has been experienced by millions of instant messaging users.

By>keeping track of the activity on their Buddy Lists, people with I.M. can 
use>log-in information to get a sense of their buddies' routines --- when 
they>arrive at work, when they are online at home on a weekend, or in some 
cases>how long they have been away from their computers.

>"When you have these technologies you really expose yourself and your day 
to>a lot of people," said Bonnie A. Nardi, an anthropologist at 
Agilent>Technologies (news/quote), a company in Palo Alto, Calif., that 
makes>high-tech monitoring devices.

>After spending a few years studying instant messaging, Dr. Nardi said 
she>became aware of the subtle impact of presence technology on people's lives.

>It is time, she said, to think about "what we want people to know about 
what>we are doing at a given moment."

>Software programmers and executives have begun talking about how 
to>capitalize on presence technology's potential.

A phone-based system>could also automatically plug in teleconference 
participants the instant>everyone in the group was available.

>The only widely available version of the technology currently in use 
is>instant messaging.

>More than 50 million people in the United States use 
instant-messaging>products today, according to industry estimates, and many 
of those people>say that their favorite aspect of the technology is the 
ability to see>whether a buddy is online.

>Still, even some of the technology's adherents acknowledge how strange it 
is>to remotely broadcast their whereabouts.

Mr. Aggarwal uses MSN Messenger,>which displays a clock icon in the contact 
list to indicate when a person>has not touched the keyboard or mouse for, 
say, five minutes.

Often, he said,>he gets a phone calls the minute he hits the keys, and the 
caller is>invariably someone who had been waiting for that icon to disappear.

The software, which>was intended to avoid problems like phone tag, was 
useless if people had to>badger colleagues to announce their availability.

>Software developers say they can design presence awareness systems 
to>accommodate both those who seek privacy and those who want constant contact.


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