The invention of the computer revolutionized life globally. It affected multiple aspects of life and sparked a frenzy of supplemental inventions. Ultimately, it altered the way businesses operate and even the way we spend our leisure time. It left many wondering, “What will they think of next?” Then came, the laptop next, the evolution of the tablet and IPAD making computing easy and eliminating the need to sit in front of a desktop or lug around storage mediums such as cds. Mark Weiser, most often referred to as the father of ubiquitous computing (ubicomp), coined the term in 1988. Ubiquitous means to exist everywhere at the same time or to be constant. His forward thinking brought about the possibility to compute on the go and from nearly anywhere. Innovation news daily provides readers with insight on innovative technologies and inventions that shaped ubiquitous computing and many other technologies. In an article entitled “In the Future, Computing is (Cunningly) Constant”, the details of ubiquitous computing are outlined. It also features contributing components and the effect of such an evolution in lifestyles and business. Ubiquitous computing has been “under construction” for more than two decades. According to the article, it originated in a Xerox PARC research lab where the father of ubicomp (Weiser) worked. Innovation news refers to it as a state in which mobile devices such as the IPAD combine forces with high speed internet connections, Google docs, and cloud computing to reduce the need for the computer in the computing process. Along with eliminating the need for the computer, ubicomp in the years to come is expected to save the consumer space, on the desk and the headache of trying to find a computer and systems that work for your lifestyle. Consumers will shop for data systems such as cloud computing that allows connection from several mediums. Innovation news predicts that this will be the future of the computing world. As a busy college student and active duty service member, I was thrilled at the idea of no longer being forced to sit in front of the computer to “compute” so I purchased an Apple IPad. Like most credulous consumers, I assumed all the kinks associated with this form of computing had been ironed out, but only in a world of perfect would we move from a computer infused society to ubiquitous computing without shortcomings. Security is one of the many barriers formed preventing the leap into a world of ubiquitous computing. Of course implementing such an innovation involves change in all aspects of life. Sadly, many consumers aren’t very receptive to change so migrating to this new “ubicomp era” may take quite some time. While portable computing is one of the largest impacts of ubiquitous computing, it’s only a small portion of the large spectrum of technical innovation. Although the article mentions many other capabilities outside of mobile computers, it doesn’t delineate beyond the surface. Ubiquitous computing imposes peculiar constraints, for example in terms of connectivity, computational power and energy budget. Also, the fact that ubiquitous computing implies unattended devices opens the door to many abuses. It follows that a fundamental prerequisite of a secure system is the ability to establish whether any given principal is or is not authorized to perform the action it is requesting. To define “who is authorized to do what” is an aspect of security. Overall the article does inform the reader of the technology and the many attributes of it yet it fails to explore the weaknesses which are necessary to the consumer in order to make an informed decision about the technology.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/in-the-future-computing-is-cunningly-constant--1700/ http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/30/04708449/0470844930.pdf
“Security for Ubiquitous Computing”. Frank Stajano