One of the themes of a couple recent papers, (Moving On from Weiser's Vision of Calm Computing: Engaging UbiComp Experiences by Yvonne Rogers and Yesterday's Tomorrows:Notes on Ubiquitous Computing's Dominant Vision) is the way in which Weiser's original vision isn't panning on the way that it was predicted. The response is to reframe the goal of ubicomp from calm, shiny and homogenous to engaging, messy, and heterogeneous.

The new graphic from Eboy on the left is a visual reminder of the way things are playing out. It is a technological Tower of Babel built on a mess of incompatibility. Click on the image for better resolution.