Mark D. Weiser (July 23, 1952 – April 27, 1999) was an American computer scientist and chief technology officer (CTO) at Xerox PARC.[1] Weiser is widely considered to be the father of ubiquitous computing, a term he coined in 1988.[1] Within Silicon Valley, Weiser was broadly viewed as a visionary and computer pioneer, and his ideas have influenced many of the world's leading computer scientists.[1]
Weiser joined PARC (then Xerox PARC) in 1987 and became manager of its computer science laboratory in 1988, the same year he pioneered the concept of ubiquitous computing.[1] He became PARC's chief technology officer in 1996.[1]
Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning. First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives.
— Mark Weiser
During one of his talks,[4] Weiser outlined a set of principles describing ubiquitous computing:
The purpose of a computer is to help you do something else.
The best computer is a quiet, invisible servant.
The more you can do by intuition the smarter you are; the computer should extend your unconscious.
Technology should create calm.
InDesigning Calm Technology,[5] Weiser and John Seely Brown describe calm technology as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention."
Tinnell, John (2023). The Philosopher of Palo Alto: Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC, and the Original Internet of Things. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0226757209.
