The Voluntary Complexity Movement

`Do these sneakers have a built-in pager, cell phone and Web browser?’ , I asked the Nike salesman at the mall. `I need to stay connected while I’m out jogging.’ `Not yet’ , he smiled, `but I suppose we’ ll have all that by next spring’ . `Good. I’ ll check back.’ Although my question was facetious, it was not entirely absurd, given today’ s tendency for electronics, clothing, appliances, vehicles, and buildings to merge as new, feature-rich hybrids. Gone is the historical moment in which a tool had just one function or a limited range of functions. No longer is a telephone just a telephone, a mirror just a mirror, a dishwasher just a dishwasher. In the era of `ubiquitous computing’ , everything must become an `information appliance’ communicating with all the other instruments a person uses. According to the latest projections from the R&D labs, the creation, marketing and eventual use of these gadgets will be one of society’ s major preoccupations in the coming century. Proclamations of this great turning point are far from subtle. `Technology: What You’ ll Want Next’ , exclaims the front page headline in Newsweek (31 May 1999). The drooling lead story by Steven Levy describes dozens of home conveniences sure to become tomorrow’s necessities. `Your automatic coffee maker will have access to your online schedule, so if you’ re out of town it’ ll withhold the brew.’ `Electrolux’ s Internet Refrigerator can tell when food supplies get low and order more from the supermarket.’ Looking into the more distant future, the article describes the `really smart house’ now on the drawing boards. In the bathroom, for example, `The mirror over the sink has given Mom the headlines while she’ s brushing her teeth, and the toilet has monitored the family’ s general health by chemical sampling. The medicine cabinet identi® es Dad through biometric recognition and allows him his daily meds, while keeping out the kids’ .