Thursday, October 27, 2005

The Elephant in the Room Just back from the Digital Identity Forum, which proved to be a very interesting event. The sessions on virtual worlds were fascinating, and provoked some healthy debate, but what became clear after that was that there is one topic on everyone's minds (at least here in the UK) - the National Identity Cards scheme. Each expert panel came back to this topic, and two things became clear pretty quickly: regardless of your views on the scheme, it is now the only game in town as far as identity/privacy is concerned. Everyone is waiting to see what happens before we can move ahead with other ideas. corporate representatives appear to feel more comfortable voicing their concerns in public, particularly since Microsoft's statements last week. Prior to this, anyone speaking out risked censure, but clearly we are now at liberty to discuss the topic in a mature and liberal fashion. What I'd like to see now is for industry to seize this opportunity to find a 'middle way' for ID Cards. The Bill has passed through the Commons, and whilst it is likely to fly through some flak in the Lords, it will emerge in one form or another. It's time to knuckle down and see how whether a workable - and ethically sound - scheme can be developed within the legislation that will emerge from the Lords. Like it or not, ID Cards are coming, so it's time to stop bellyaching and figure out how to minimise the risk and maximise the return to the citizen. 4:59:02 PM    comment []

When Did Technology Become Universal? Whilst out shopping with the wife last week, we went into a high-street electronics store. She admitted to not having gone into a technology shop for a few years now (I'll never understand how someone with an Oxford degree in Physics can take so little interest in gizmos!), and was awestruck by how far consumer technology has progressed in that time. This got me thinking about technology progress, and just how much technology we have in our lives, and I wondered this: when was the last time any manufacturer stated a maximum market capacity for its new device? For example, when the mainframe computer appeared, manufacturers assumed that there would be no need for more than a few hundred of them worldwide. Early mobile phones were seen to be the preserve of bankers and yuppies, and most of us couldn't imagine why we would use one. So at which point, exactly, did we democratise technology for the developed world? I find it hard to imagine a manufacturer of any new computing device imagining that it wouldn't find a mass market. And at what point will we finally remove the divide between the 'techno-haves', and the 'techno-have nots?' 4:35:42 PM    comment []