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Another meaning of always-on

And not such a good one. From Schneier:

When "Off" Doesn't Mean Off

According to the specs of the new Nintendo Wii (their new game machine), "Wii can communicate with the Internet even when the power is turned off."...[Security and ownership issues aside, w]hat's interesting here is that Nintendo is changing the meaning of the word "off." We are all conditioned to believe that "off" means off, and therefore safe. But in Nintendo's case, "off" really means something like "on standby."...

There's a serious security problem here, made worse by a bad user interface. "Off" should mean off.

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17 May 2006 at 01:10 in Games |

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What is the End of Cyberspace?

  • About the end of cyberspace

    Cyberspace is a "metaphor we live by," born two decades ago at the intersection of computers, networks, ideas, and experience. It has reflected our experiences with information technology, and also shaped the way we think about new technologies and the challenges they present. It had been a vivid and useful metaphor for decades; but in a rapidly-emerging world of mobile, always-on information devices (and eventually cybernetic implants, prosthetics, and swarm intelligence), the rules that define the relationship between information, places, and daily life are going to be rewritten. As the Internet becomes more pervasive-- as it moves off desktops and screen and becomes embedded in things, spaces, and minds-- cyberspace will disappear.

  • About this blog

    This blog is about what happens next. It's about the end of cyberspace, but more important, about what new possibilities will emerge as new technologies, interfaces, use practices, games, legal theory, regulation, and culture adjust-- and eventually dissolve-- the boundaries between the virtual and physical worlds.

  • About the author

    Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is an historian of science and futurist.

    ping Pang

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