Malcolm McCullough

McCullough calls this book an inquiry into ambient information and our attentional practices in everyday life. It is presented in the form of a long critical essay, examining a number of core concepts pertaining to contemporary ubiquitous computing such as ambient, information, attention and embodiment. It further develops into what is called an environmental history of information, taking a long view on information in our (primarily urban) physical environment and culminating on a hopeful show more note with the proposed concept of peak distraction. Along the way, it draws together cognitive science, architectural criticism and interaction design in a way that forms a lasting impression even though I personally find the balance between the individual and the social to be a little bit lopsided. I would recommend the book to any interaction designer who is, or plans to be, involved in the design of pervasive, ubiquitous, ambient digital things and media. And judging by the recent infrastructural digital sprawl, that would be more or less all interaction designers. show less

A thoughtful and thought provoking meditation about an increasingly difficult issue, namely the ability to maintain, and marshal attention in a world where public spaces are increasingly bombarded by distraction.

McCullough offers a carefully articulated craft perspective on the shaping of digital materials. His attention to the fine details of the craft and the qualities of the digital viewed as craft materials illustrates a fresh, yet at the same time historically well-founded perspective on our field.

I have just finished reading Digital Ground: Architecture, Pervasive Computing, and Environmental Knowing by Malcolm McCullough. I'll try to give here a short review.

The books' main idea is the need for interaction design and the need to always take place into account when designing ubiquitous systems.

Chapter 1 - Interactive Futures - talks about what the meaning of the term ubiquitous and how other technologial-oriented terms like cyberspace have never quite hold up to the myth. "[...] show more Weiser defined ubiquitous computing as 'hundreds of computers per person'", "Many of these terms have become overexposed.", "[...] ubiquity [...] now is applied to all manner of globalizing technology."

Chapter 2 - Embodied Predispositions - starts an argumentation, which continues on chapter 3 - Habitual Contexts, for the need to put people and place (our body is our first place) at the center of the design. "Ubiquitous computing, in its universalist version has overlooked the value of context."

Chapter 4 - Embedded Gear - talks about the hardware components that can be used in ubiquitous computing and how they can be used in fact to produce "situated computing".

Chapter 5 - Location models - talks about location models which necessarily have to include people, activity. "Location models are not just maps of physical position, but are also representations of activity and organization."

Chapter 6 - Situated Types - presents a typology of thirty situations which include:
Deliberating (places for thinking)
Presenting (places for speacking to groups)
Collaborating (places for working within groups)
Dealing (places for negotiating)
...

Chapter 7 - Designing Interactions - "presents interactivity as a cultural and not only technical challenge."

Chapter 8 - Grounding Places - presents a concept of place and chapter 9 - Accumulating Value, arguments that the value of place is not just economical.


On a more personal note, this book is not a very practical one in the sense that you will not find practical advice on how to create situated systems. It's more of a theoretical book and thus, at least for me, some chapters were hard to read. show less