How do you market to spimes?

My colleague Anthony Townsend, who's done more thinking about the intersection of the Internet and urban spaces than any other human being, reflects on the problems inherent in ad-supported municipal wifi networks. His point about the potential collision of the Internet of Things and the adversing model is very smart:

The Internet of Things is going to be invented in cities-- which possess the most complex ecosystems of things, people and places-- but the question of which cities is still a very much open matter.

The problem arises however, in that most of the proposals being put forth today for ad-support municipal networks require a browser-based login. This is where the user is identified and authenticated for tracking. While this is a necessary function (with due attentions to the concerns voiced above), it precludes the possibility of widespread access to the Internet for networked objects without screens and browsers.

So: how do you market to spimes? Can you imagine a world in which things aren't consumed, but are consumers?

Technorati Tags: Bruce Sterling, city, Shaping Things, ubicomp, wireless