We've been talking about the ability to bring physical objects into the virtual (internet) world for quite a while now. Discussions have ranged from simply tagging physical objects and allowing humans to then attach metadata (something similar to what StickyBits does), to allowing objects the ability to be automatically tracked and to subconsciously attach and transmit metadata based on usage, location etc.
There has been some speculation around Facebook's dive (possibly called 'Presence') into this largely untamed world especially with reports of tests done during its F8 conference. As a marketer and a part-time anthropologist, I want to bring a cultural perspective into understanding what it might take for this marriage between the physical and virtual worlds to become a reality in our everyday lives.
Our cultural history has left us many clues that help us understand the underlying reasons behind technology adoption. A look at the history of Computer-Based Communication technologies will reveal, distinctly identifiable cultural patterns. Take the Whole Earth Lectronic Link (WELL) for example. Started by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant as a way to use the tools of the establishment for grass-roots purposes, the WELL ended up pioneering the concept of digital communities as we know it! The WELL, which began as a natural progression from the Whole Earth Catalog, was meant to use technologies that were typically confined to universities and governments to empower people and build intentional communities.
Craigslist, another incredibly successful community, was built on this very ideal of empowering the masses, by giving people the ability to create their own marketplace and in many cases, their own currency! In fact, Craig Newmark initially started Craigslist on The WELL.
If you consider the work of the hacking community, you will notice the very same pattern of transforming technologies into tools of liberation. Hackers in the 70s developed the concept of time sharing and transformed the mainframe computer into a series of virtual personal computers, laying the foundation for what we today refer to as cloud computing. Similarly, hackers in the 80s played a significant role in transforming the ARPANET (a network developed for military use) into the modern day form of the Internet. It's no surprise then that in his 1995 Time Magazine article, Brand wrote "Counterculture's scorn for centralized authority provided the philosophical foundations of not only the leaderless Internet but also the entire personal-computer revolution."
Now coming back to the topic on hand. A marriage between the physical and virtual worlds needs an immersion into the counterculture. Until we begin to use the metadata associated with physical objects as a means to empower people, this technology/idea won't really enter the mainstream. This isn't a scenario that's hard to envision, however, it may be hard to achieve. Consider the simple example of a company like Apple that decides to allow its product, the iPhone 4, to emit metadata (highly unlikely, but stay with me for the sake of argument!) every time it connects to the internet or is synced. We (users of the internet) would not only know how the iPhone 4 is being used and how it is performing but also have a very unbiased sense of the number of complaints that were registered for Antennagate!
Unfortunately, allowing a product to essentially blog, without much control over what it says is a scary thought for most organizations. Companies don't want to stir the pot unnecessarily (as clearly witnessed in the Antennagate fiasco) and they definitely don't seem to be ready to allow real use cases to be floating around the Internet. Heck, most companies have yet to figure out a way to deal with their users talking about their products in the social space!
My prediction, the physical and social realms are still far from a wedding. They haven't even been engaged yet. Of course, small steps in the forms of location based services, companies like StickyBits and Facebook's potential introduction of 'Presence', will go a long way in making this a reality.
References:
1. VirtualCampfire.org
2. TechMan: 'Whole Earth' goes digital
3. A Manifesto for Networked Objects
Follow Ujwal Arkalgud on Twitter: www.twitter.com/interpretivist
