Guest editorial: Handheld CSCW: Personal technologies for collaboration

Computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) has been mainly based on the desktop computing paradigm; however, portable personal technologies enable novel kinds of support for collaboration. In this paper I discuss qualities of emerging personal technologies derived from their relationship with the user, their tasks and the local environment. On this basis, I provide an analysis of personal technologies for collaboration, followed by a brief a introduction to papers in this issue. My first encounter with a handheld computer was in 1993 at the Science Museum in London in "IT'Ll. NEVER WORK: an exhibition exploring the curious world of inventions". A press notice announced the exhibition highlights, "the latest pocket computer which can learn to recognise your handwriting", alongside "the Velo-douche of 1897 which washes cyclists as they pedal", and "wacky gadgets like the solar powered pith helmet which provides a free breeze in the sweltering tropics" [1]. The exhibited handheld computer was Apple's Newton, which failed after its introduction but which, as computer design critic Don Norman acknowledges, "did show the utility of small devices" [2]. The Newton gave an idea of a new quality of being personal; a humancomputer relationship closer than the one based on "merely portable" laptop computers. Newton enthusiasts made a point of having their Newton accompany them everywhere. Stressing the "personal", it is not surprising that emerging handheld and wearable technologies are geared toward support of individual users, with support for single-user tasks rather than collaborative activities. Supported tasks concern personal information management, with personal devices augmenting their user's ability to store and recall information. This functionality is characteristic for the many palmtop organiser products now available, and is also evident in more elaborate concepts of personal technologies such as Lamming's forget-me-not [3] and Rhodes' wearable remembrance agent [4]. For personal technologies to also become a utility for collaborative tasks, their networking is prerequisite. Current developments toward networking of personal technologies enable them to support collaboration. This is analogous to the shift from stand-alone to networked use of personal computers, which started off desktop-based CSCW a decade ago. Most handheld computers and information appliances now on the market can tap into established network infrastructures. Other developments are advancing ad hoc networking of communicating appliances. Visions of more sophisticated personal technologies generally assume constant connectivity as a core feature.

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