[-empyre-] Thanks, and wrapping up.

["Patrick Lichty" <voyd@voyd.com>]

Hello, all.

It seems that my time of talking about PDAs, information appliances and
other strange devices such as wearble recorders and low-tech interventions
is at a close.  Thanks so much to Melinda for having me.

To wrap up, I think that some things were very obvious from the interaction
on this forum.  First, these genres define many agendas of privilege,
technological determinism, access, and so on.  Mostly, as some of these
devices (such as the wristcam, cybiko, etc are quite affordable).  The
audience for the embodied devices is a niche at this time, and work being
done on these platforms not even being in their adolescence yet.  However,
work like 8 Bits or Less is has much broader accessibility, and represents
the integration of these forms into previously extant forms,such as video.

Therefore, while this body of inquiry is still of interest to me, it
represents a more cul-de-sac strategy than other forms of artistic
expression.  It seems to be more effective when it is part of a larger
discursive structure.

I will probably not be for another 2-5 years for the widespread use of these
devices as artisticplatforms, and much more likely that they will be used
through the coming of device convergence, if it comes at all. I find the
much more likely scenario to be the aesthetic repurposing of embedded
processors in devices like appliances, credit cards, and the like.  However,
the applications for which I am speculating do not exist yet, so I am left
with my speculations.

But the personal/wearable/embodied device as aesthetic platform reflects the
tangible impact that these devices have had on technological culture.  What
impact they will have on the larger global community is suspect unless
grass-roots programs create some unforetold synergy through distributed
devices.

I don't know.  However, I will keep watching.

Thanks, again,
Patrick