As a reaction to the OpenAI + io announcement two weeks ago, Christopher Butler imagines a mesh computing device network he calls “personal ambient computing”:

…I keep thinking back to Star Trek, and how the device that probably inspired the least wonder in me as a child is the one that seems most relevant now: the Federation’s wearables. Every officer wore a communicator pin — a kind of Humane Pin light — but they also all wore smaller pins at their collars signifying rank. In hindsight, it seems like those collar pins, which were discs the size of a watch battery, could have formed some kind of wearable, personal mesh network. And that idea got me going…

He describes the device as a standardized disc that can be attached to any enclosure. I love his illustration too:

Diagram of a PAC Mesh Network connecting various devices: Pendant, Clip, Watch, Portable, Desktop, Handset, and Phone in a circular layout.

Christopher Butler: “I imagine a magnetic edge system that allows the disc to snap into various enclosures — wristwatches, handhelds, desktop displays, wearable bands, necklaces, clips, and chargers.”

Essentially, it’s an always-on, always observing personal AI.

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PAC – Personal Ambient Computing - Christopher Butler

Like most technologists of a certain age, many of my expectations for the future of computing were set by Star Trek production designers. It’s quite

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