Ephemeralization

Ephemeralization is a term coined by R. Buckminster Fuller in 1922. It refers to the ability of technological advancement to do "more and more with less and less until eventually you can do everything with nothing." Fuller's vision was that ephemeralization will result in ever increasing standards of living for an ever growing population despite finite resources.

Fuller referred to Henry Ford's assembly line as an example of how ephemeralization can continuously lead to better products at lower cost with no upper bounds on productivity.

Fuller saw ephemeralization as an inevitable trend in human development. The progression was from "compression" to "tension" to "visual" to "abstract electrical" (i.e. non-sensorial radiation, such as radio waves, x-rays, etc.). Length measurement technologies in human development, for example, started with a compressive measure, such as a ruler. The compressive technique reached an upper limit with a rod. For longer measures, a tensive measure such as a string or rope was used. This reached an upper limit with sagging of the string. Next was surveyor's telescope, a visual measure. This reached the upper limits with curvature of the earth. Next was radio triangulation, an abstract electrical measure. Since then, our technological progression has constantly reached greater and greater length-measuring ability per pound of instrument, with no apparent upper limit.

Moore's Law is another example of ephemeralization. Moore's Law says that the number of transistors in a microprocessor doubles every eighteen months.

Metcalf's Law is another example of ephemeralization. Metcalf's Law says that the value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of the nodes connected.

NIST Releases Interim Smart Grid Interoperability Roadmap

The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) released today a draft copy of its Interim Smart Grid Interoperability Roadmap, one of its tasks under the Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 (EISA2007). The 291-page document, found at: www.nist.gov/smartgrid/InterimSmartGridRoadmapNISTRestructure.pdf

This Roadmap addresses a variety of issues, including governance and IP, going forward. In addition to outlining the project and describing the work done so far, the Roadmap defines a conceptual model for smart grid and its implementation, identifies the applications in different domains of the grid, discusses the security requirements for smart grid, and finally, recommends several near-term actions that NIST can take to advance the interoperability framework.

NIST will invite comment on the draft, developed by EPRI, within 30 days after the Federal Register notice is released. It will then publish a final draft before September, based on the comments that are received. NIST hopes to have a final Roadmap by the end of the year.

Many of us in the industry over the last two years have had the opportunity to contribute up to this point and look forward to finishing the standards with a final worldwide open stakeholder approach to get all the possible input in place to release the final standards that will drive America to deliver a nationwide smart grid.

Pecan Street Project Launches Website

The Pecan Street Project gets a website to start sharing with the world, after working quietly for six months. 12 teams and 150 professionals are defining what Smart Grid 2.0 is all about in Austin, TX. For Austin Energy, it is a great opportunity to take its success in deploying its Smart Grid 1.0 (first in the US) and work with world class organizations to build on it the next evolutionary step.

The Pecan Street Project was founded by Austin Energy, the City of Austin, The University of Texas, and The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and it became a partnership with The Environmental Defense Fund, Applied Materials, Dell, GE, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Freescale Semiconductor, Sematech, GridPoint, and several others.

The Pecan Street Project will comprise three phases with several parallel efforts. The first phase will be complete by the end of August 2009, and will focus on developing an action plan for Austin Energy and identifying key barriers that must be overcome for success. These barriers will be organized into the following categories: technologies, workforce, markets and business models and policies. The technology section will be further organized into those that 1) are ready for implementation (for example motion sensors for hallway lights), 2) need to be tested and verified when integrated into the grid, and 3) need to be developed, as well as by generation, storage, efficiency, and low-tech options. The second phase will be the execution of the recommendations and pilots approved by the Austin Energy board of directors. And the third phase is a potential new research consortium.

http://www.pecanstreetproject.org/

Andres Carvallo to Keynote Digital Living Conference

Digital Living Conference features executives from controls, networking, entertainment, and CE companies

CONNECTIONS™ speakers address challenges and opportunities that come with converging products and services

Parks Associates has announced the speakers for CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase, including keynotes from Austin Energy, AT&T, Sony Pictures, and Verizon.

The 13th annual CONNECTIONS™, June 2-4 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, features interactive panels with over 80 speakers and consumer and industry research presented by Parks Associates’ expert analysts. This event attracts senior executives from industries associated with the digital home, new media and content distribution, and mobile applications and services.

“CONNECTIONS™ speakers offer an array of expertise covering CE, digital media, content and access services, home controls, and energy management,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. “The number of broadband households worldwide will reach 650 million by 2013. These connections will have a ripple effect throughout multiple industries, impacting communications, entertainment, and home management. CONNECTIONS™ features an excellent lineup of speakers covering both the visionary and practical challenges in forging new business models for this changing consumer culture.”

Parks Associates reports the number of mobile TV subscribers worldwide exceeded 30 million in 2008, while more than 26 million U.S. consumers use the Internet at least monthly to catch up on TV programming. Both findings show the growing appeal of place- and time-shifting features and are early indicators of the future directions of the mobile and video markets.

Keynote Speakers:
Joseph Ambeault, Director, Product Development and Management, Video Services, Verizon
Andres E. Carvallo, Chief Information Officer, Austin Energy
Glenn Lurie, President of Emerging Devices and Resale, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets
Mitch Singer, CTO, Executive Vice President of New Media and Technology, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.; President, Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)

Speakers and Panelists:
Sanket Amberkar, Marketing Manager, Network Systems Solutions, Cisco
Bruce Anderson, General Manager, Global Electronics Industry, IBM
Sean Besser, VP, Business Development, Macrovision
Stephen Blum, President, Tellus Venture Associates
Jeff Bonin, Vice President & GM, Alticast
Brandon Brown, CEO, Zodiac Interactive
Torey Bruno, Director of Business Development, Via Licensing Corporation
Geoff Burke, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Calix
Jon Burr, VP, Customer Experience and Operations, CrossLoop, Inc.
Duane Carvalho, Sales Director, North America, Jungo
Steve Cashman, Chief Strategy Officer, Exceptional Innovation
Chenyi Chiu, Strategic Program Manager, HD-PLC Alliance
Paul Dawes, CEO, iControl Networks
Rolf De Vegt, Director, Technical Standards Qualcomm
Jim Denney, VP, Product Marketing, TiVo Inc.
Vijay Desai, Founder, CEO, Aceurity, Inc.
Christopher Deutschen, Senior Manager, Product & Business Development, Direct Energy
Chris Dobrec, Sr. Director Strategy & Business Development, Cisco Systems
Brian Donnelly, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Icron
Ajay Dugar, Executive Director, Paramount Digital Entertainment
Mike Ehlenberger, Vice President of Channel Sales, Actiontec Electronics, Inc.
Jaime Fink, Vice President of Technology and Strategy, 2Wire
Meir Friedlander, CEO, Eyecon Technologies, Inc.
Jonathan Gaines, Senior Vice President - Sales, Xeriton Corporation/BluePhone
Jackson Gates, Director of Business Development, Pandora
Ben Geller, Senior Director of Marketing, Motive Product Group, Alcatel-Lucent
Noam Geri, Co-founder, Vice President Marketing & Business Development, AMIMON
Andrea Goldsmith, Co-Founder and CTO, Quantenna Communications
Pankaj Gupta, Manager, Market Management - Service Providers, Cisco Systems
Mike Harris, CEO, AnySource
David Henry, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, Home Products, NETGEAR
Chris Hock, Senior VP, Product Management, BlackArrow
Jim Hunter, CTO and Chief Architect, 4Home
Brent Hurley, Strategic Partner Development Manager, YouTube
Richard Irving, Managing Partner, Pond Venture Partners
Vipin Jain, President and CEO, Retrevo
Braxton Jarratt, CEO, Clearleap
Brian Johnson, Senior Vice President, Americas and Asia Pacific, mBlox, Inc.
Jason Johnson, Vice-President of Marketing & Business Development, Via Licensing Corporation
Jim Johnson, President & CEO, uControl
Scott Kelliher, Category Director, Telecommunications & Technology, Platform A/AOL
Fred King, VP, Sales & Marketing, PlumChoice, Inc.
Kazuhiro Kitagawa, Vice-Chairman, PUCC
Steve Koepp, Senior Manager, Business Development, Microsoft Corporation
Art Lancaster, CTO, Affinegy
Michael Lantz, CEO, Accedo Broadband
Craig Lee, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, Ortiva Wireless
Michelle Leyden Li, General Manager, Home Control Business Unit, Zilog
Sheung Li, Director of Product Development & Marketing, SiBEAM
Alex Limberis, COO, Syabas Technology, Inc.
Ken Lowe, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Sigma Designs
Robert Malnati, Director, Business Development, Broadband Solutions Group, Home and Networks Mobility, Motorola, Inc.
Wilfred Martis, Director of Platform Strategy and Planning, Digital Home Group, Intel
Theodore May, VP, Content & Value-added Services, Synacor
Steve McKay, CEO, Entone Inc.
Travis Misterek, Technical Analyst, Best Buy
Seale Moorer, CEO, Exceptional Innovation
Mike Noonen, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, NXP Semiconductors
Bogdan Odulinski, Director - Product Management, Enterprise Services Group, SupportSoft, Inc.
Frank Ploumen, Director, Home Applications, Alcatel-Lucent
Mostafa Reza, Product Line Manager, IP Video Solutions Group, Motorola
Micha Risling, VP of Marketing, Valens Semiconductor
Anthony Rodio, Chief Operating Officer, support.com
Avner Ronen, CEO & Co-Founder, Boxee
Vibha Rustagi, CEO & President, itaas, Inc.
Russ Schafer, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Connected TV, Yahoo!
Rick Schwartz, Product Manager, TwonkyMedia Manager, PacketVideo
Loren Shade, VP Marketing, Allegro Software Development Corporation
Parag Sheth, Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Hillcrest Labs
Eric Smith, CTO, Control4
Jason Spero, VP & Managing Director NA, AdMob
Kevin Spier, Director of Business Development, Bunchball
Singu Srinivas, VP, Sales and Marketing, Radialpoint
Bill Stanley, Director, Operations Solutions, Telcordia
Jan Steenkamp, Founder Member, Head Market Development America, Irdeto
Rob Tobias, Director, Market Development, Silicon Image
Steve Tranter, VP Interactive and Broadband, NDS
Edgar Villalpando, SVP, Marketing, ActiveVideo Networks
Dr. Kenneth Wacks, Member, GridWise Architecture Council, U.S. Department of Energy
Ian Walsh, VP Business Development, ProVision Communications
Fred Wang, General Partner, Trinity Ventures
Lior Weiss, VP Marketing, Celeno
Stephen White, Director, Business Development, VIZIO
Ken Wirt, Vice President Consumer Marketing, Cisco Systems
Daniel Wong, Director of Product Management, D-Link
Steve Yum, Sr. Director of Marketing, Synerchip
Scot Zarkiewicz, CEO, SingleClick Systems
Eric Zimits, Managing Director, Granite Ventures


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