(the point of this slide is to review the 'starting point' for AgentWare. What has made the need for it emerge)

Given the information society which it reflects and serves, Cyberspace can't really have any other shape. It's a natural result of co-evolution. We have grown in our integrative needs from data gathering to searching for wisdom.

• Features of this landscape:
  • In the last 2 years, the Web lifts off
  • Social phenomenon
  • The aliens did it
  • Run by no one; this defies al the social, business and legal conventions we know about and react to.
  • People 'get it' immediately
• Effects of the shape of Cyberspace
• Who is "We"
  • local == global
  • "on the internet no one knows you're a dog"
• Where is "There"
  • nowhere;
  • everywhere is 'offshore'

Mind you, there are 'places' on the web. Presence on a popular page will cost you plenty, and commerce is just beginning to emerge (ironically some of the most successful places are web book stores.) Its just that the experience of the web leaves most normal folks feeling all twirly and chaotic, but not in a good way.

When is "Then"?
the rise of the asynchronous life style; when's the last time you actually took a call; arrhythmic life rhythms; this is a most important forward indicator for the success of agentware.

Agentware, a presentation by Dana Moore of AT&T.
dana.moore@worldnet.att.net