Shaping Things:

Bruce introduces the phenomenon of SPIME as the birth of object processing. He stresses on emergence of a transparent product lifecycle that will lead to sustainability.

Q) Though Bruce’s utopian view is comforting, what could be some unintended implications of this. Could it lead to over consumption and shorter product lifecycle considering the ease of logistics and a detachment from the material attributes of product itself?

Bruce defines SPIME as objects that are plantable, trackable, findable, recyclable, can be uniquely identified and generates digital histories.

Q) How does an addition of these functions to everyday objects, affect their material attributes? Does it change them into an electronic objects that exist as a node in the network of internet of things, or these would just function as trackable labels without altering the materiality and meaning of these objects?

(Page 100)

“It is not a question of designing an internet of things to meet my so-called needs. Its vastly cheaper and simpler just to enable automatic information generating devices and processes, then search them mechanically and cybernetically, to figure out what i need.”

Q) What could be some social implications of everyday objects getting transformed into information generating devices? Will constant tracking and gathering behavioral data lead to an altered user behavior that is controlled by the image of projected self?