Disappearing Hardware

The authors review Mark Weiser's vision of ubiquitous computing from a hardware perspective and consider how far we've succeeded in implementing it after a decade of technological growth. They particularly examine Weiser's notion of invisibility: if computers blend in with life practices, they will eventually disappear from our consciousness. Computer hardware is certainly getting smaller, but size isn't all there is to disappearing. The authors identify specific areas for additional advancement, and the hard problems that must be solved, for computers to truly disappear from the foreground and fade into the background. They then consider how these hardware-related challenges are aligned with the larger challenges of achieving Weiser's vision.