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Personal Computing in the Networked World

Personal Computing in the Networked World. Henry Minsky hqm@alum.mit.edu Keio University Beartronics Inc. 11/27/101. Henry Minsky. What’s so great about a network connection?. Where is all your stuff? A personal virtual server

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Personal Computing in the Networked World

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  1. Personal Computing in the Networked World Henry Minsky hqm@alum.mit.edu Keio University Beartronics Inc. 11/27/101 Henry Minsky

  2. What’s so great about a network connection? • Where is all your stuff? • A personal virtual server • What defines ‘mobile’ services? (nothing, everything is ‘mobile’) • How could we make better platform and infrastructure support for personal computing? • What can be learned from I-mode? Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  3. Some Mobile Projects I Worked On • NTT DoCoMo Sponsored Research at Keio Univ. SFC Campus • http://www.wem.sfc.keio.ac.jp/wem/ • Ketai controlled Web Camera • Ketai controlled virtual bulletin board • WEM / Memspace server: remembers everything everywhere, environmental, personal, shared data • GPS correction data over IP • Picobrowser (see iMode section) Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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  7. WEM Mobile Unit GPS Still/Video Web server Audio Orientation Sensor Net Ketai UI Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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  11. Ketai-activated Bulletin Board • Personalized to each user, calendar, task list, SFC-MODE • Java and I-mode UI supported • Remote control of browser window • View summary (via Google gateway!) on I-mode • Submit articles via web, I-mode, or email Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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  13. Vboard iMode UI Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  14. Java Picobrowser • The PicoBrowser is a tiny customizable HTML browser and web server, runs on the NTT DoCoMo IAppli platform. • Also in MIDP, with micro SVG Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  15. Mobile can mean the other room • Sitting in my office at home, get email with URL of interesting article, from my wife in the other room. • When Wireless WAN Access is available (4G? 802.11?), there won’t be any difference between mobile and fixed access Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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  17. It’s about how you interact online • Emailing links to interesting articles is a very high-bandwidth and concise, and organized way to communicate online. • Even from the other room. • High volumes of email tend to be organized by filter apps such as Eudora. • Online bookmarks, weblogs … • Because he was deaf, Edison used to put everything in writing Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  18. The Applications I Use • Personal file directory (I keep mine in CVS) • Webmail (Yahoo Mail) • Weblog • Phonebook • Household Calendar / Email alerts • Photo album / home electronic picture frame • Instant Message service (customized) • Random Email - post-it notes to self • Household prioritized task list (bug tracking) • Power (Wimpy) Point for professional presentations • I-Mode address book app • I-Mode Google gateway Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  19. Everyone now needs their own server • Mobile forces customers to use an ASP • A drawback (for the user) of turning an app into a service is that you are now at the mercy of the service provider • In the future, people will lease generic virtual servers, and configure them themselves, thus making remote desktop PC’s. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  20. Personal Virtual Server • A logical evolution of the telephone answering machine • Replace the desktop machine • We need a high-level virtual machine models of a server, and it’s database, so people can easily pack up their personal server configuration and run it on another provider (no lock-in) • Write Mobile apps for people’s PVS Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  21. Virtual Server Physical Host Server Server image TCP/IP VM + COW RDBMS VM + COW VM + COW R/O Filesystem VM + COW ... Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  22. Virtual Server Prototype Application Environment • Linux UML • Apache Java Server • Microsoft .net common runtime • VMWare • IBM 390 Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  23. A Virtual Machine • Define a virtual machine server platformAllows users to easily install/uninstall and run multiple web applications, analogous to desktop applications • Provides a complete runtime environment including a fileysystem and database. • Being a virtual machine, a complete snapshot can be made of it and all its application and data contents, in the form a of a simple data file. This server image can be installed and run on any host or hosting service which supports the virtual machine. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  24. Virtual Server Technology • Relies on inter-server standards - XML-RPC, TCP, etc • Sometimes you want to send a link to your server, sometimes you want to send a copy of the data • 24x7 operation is assumed (like the phone company) Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  25. Virtual Server • Obviously this would be useful to businesses and other organizations as well as consumers • Technology allows download copy of server image to local host, for high performance local interaction • Real dedicated hardware server could be used for high performance applications • Like DOS, or Windows, make a standard, and try to allow for direct access to high performance features of the system if required Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  26. Mechanizing the Handling of Information • Stowger switch • Hollerith Card • Teletype vs. Hell • Spreadsheet • Ebay Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  27. HellSchreiber Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  28. HTML Takes a Wrong Turn • Turned into the equivalent of a fax machine, a corrupted page layout language • This set back where we are today in mobile, i.e., alternate access is hard instead of simple. • Complete failure of industry to use the technology correctly. • I go to www.fleet.com, and if my browsers doesn't support JavaScript, I get a blank page. • You can implement fax over IP, but not the reverse Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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  30. XML To The Rescue • But my hotmail.com calendar cannot be downloaded as XML. • There are twenty different formats. SyncML may help. • XML-RPC is a medium sized hammer, SOAP is a big hammer. XML and HTTP are sufficient for many things. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  31. Rapid Prototyping of Online Community Applications • Built in common model of users/groups • Security / authentication model • Scripting environment • Relational Database Backed • Well suited for machine-augmented social interaction Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  32. OpenACS Modules • Portals • Redirects • Robot Detection • Site-Wide Search • Spam • Survey • Ticket • User Administration • User Groups • User Registration and Access Control • User Session Tracking • WimpyPoint • Download • E-commerce • Email Handler • FAQ • File Storage • General Comments • General Permissions • Graphing • Intranet • Member Value • Neighbor to Neighbor • New Stuff • News • Permissions • Poll • Adserver • Address Book • Banner Ideas • BBoards • Bookmarks • Calendar • Calendar Widget • Chat • Classifieds • Contact Manager • CMS • Curriculum • Directory Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  33. 'Mobile' also means paper • Without a sufficiently high res screen or high bandwidth mobile data network… • I print out a map from a URL before I leave the house • Best interface to I-mode top menu is printed catalog from DoCoMo • I print out phone numbers, because I might be out of range and my phone’s address book app doesn’t play nice with my XML online address app. (Could customize a Java App if it were a little more powerful implementation) Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  34. What make an application “Mobile”? • Ergonomics Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  35. Ergonomics • With mobile, it's weight, not size. 100g max. Remember Sony CD walkman-had to be size of CD case. Original walkman, size of cassette case. • People don't particularly want small screens, although they are good for privacy on the train. • You want a phone and a PDA. Hard to get both in the same device. • I am getting carpal tunnel in my thumb from the tiny keypad on the phone. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  36. Inherent Artifacts of ‘Mobile’ Access • At the moment, cellular technology means that ‘mobile’ trades off freedom of movement for low bandwidth and small-sized access device • Think ‘paperback book’, not desktop computer • Data entry is hard, user can only read small amount of data • Suited to point tasks, and controlling other processes, not for bulk data entry or general browsing • It’s more like a railroad switch than a railroad Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  37. Mobile and Fixed Can Be Complementary • Take home stereo and walkman example. • In Japan, much ‘free’ time is spent on trains or on foot. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  38. What Are You Doing When You’re Mobile? • When you are mobile, you are mostly interacting with other people or real things. That’s why you’re not in the house. • Mobile Network Access is made proportionally more useful by the amount of stuff you keep and do on the network. Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  39. Essentials of (Wireless) Web Communication • Java phones are good because you need every ounce of UI help with these things. But ... Java is beside the point. • The power of the web is users being able to "publish" info,not be passive consumers. So when the user gets to the point that they need to publish information, they need something as "simple" as HTML, i.e.,simple enough that they can publish info in a way that is universally accessible by others. • The power of HTML is not that you can view your own stuff, but that someone else in Siberia can view your content without having to download and run a special application. That applies equally to the wireless web. • SO: that means that users should get whatever help they need to publish info (i.e., www.weblogger.com, etc), but that info needs to be viewable from the server in a universal form (HTML, XML, etc). • The (personal) server is responsible for converting and delivering the user’s info in whatever formats or calling sequences are required by other users Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  40. Chat and Entertainment • Is chat the killer app?For AOL it is. • Japanese wireless SMS, especially among teenagers. • Talk about “ImaHima” and other group scheduling/chat apps • That’s not Philg’s definition of “online community” Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  41. The “Network Effect” • The utility of the network is proportional to the square of the number of users. • .. But only if the users actively participate .. • How are they effectively contributors or publishers of information and services? Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  42. Mobile Devices are Virtual Windows Into an Online World • The mobile information device provides a (small) window into a virtual world • The richer that world is, the more useful the mobile device • Requirements: (a) People, (b) Servers, (c) Extensible cross-server communication • cHTML is 1st order approximation of (c) Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  43. Appropriate Technology • Getting latest spot prices at Tsukiji fish market • Foods Infomart. Japan has many small produce distributors, out in the field. Need mobile price and inventory information. • Vertical market, appropriate use of technology. • Industrial users - low profile but very important • DoPa mobile data telemetry - vending machines, sensors Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  44. Web of Services • Each user has their own personal web of services that they use online that makes up their virtual identity • Need to be able to traverse that easily from a mobile device • POP is a good example. • Industrial users’ wireless servers should be in the web (FedEx, or door locks) Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  45. Server Technology That is User Extensible • Can your users do something that you didn’t envision with your service? • Is there any way they could? • Do they have the ability to manipulate data in your virtual environment to communicate with others? Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  46. Peer to Peer is Orthogonal • Users may keep their data in their own personal server’s applications, or spread around other servers • The key is inter-server communication protocols • But users cannot run their own servers yet • We’re in the mainframe/mini phase of web/wireless, not the PC phase Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  47. Example Future Mobile Services • Higher bandwidth: 3g, 4g - wireless-to-server photo album direct from digicam, wireless video sharing Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  48. The Sims • "example of how a company and its customers can help a product evolve to the point where customers not only do a large portion of the innovation and marketing but also produce as much intellectual capital as they consume." The Sims • Applies to DoCoMo i-mode service Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  49. Learning From The Sims • For the business community, The Sims' lessons are twofold. The first is that interaction design trumps graphics. The Sims is less photorealistic than any computer game on the market, or any broadband site on the Web - it's not even fully 3D. Yet it succeeds tremendously because it allows players with different agendas to interact as consumers, producers, mavens and community leaders and to reap rewards for all of these activities. The richness and complexity of an online experience, like the richness and complexity of a city, is created by the people who live there as they engage with the place and each other. • Learning From The SimsBy J.C. Herz in The StandardIssue Date: Mar 26 2001 Henry Minsky 11/27/101

  50. Learning From The Sims • "The second lesson is that online businesses don't just exist, like buildings, in space. They exist, like cities, in human context over time. The best ones are designed to grow more interconnected, not just bigger, as the population evolves. They're always messy. They're never finished. They harbor an almost palpable sense of around-the-clock activity and a sense of place that owes as much to collective experience as to snazzy signage. When you open your window, there's a there there." comments on sim city • Learning From The SimsBy J.C. Herz in The StandardIssue Date: Mar 26 2001 Henry Minsky 11/27/101

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