Mark D. Weiser (July 23, 1952 – April 27, 1999) was a computer scientist and
chief technology officer (CTO) at
Xerox PARC
PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...
.
Weiser is widely considered to be the father of
ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
, a term he coined in 1988.
Within Silicon Valley, Weiser was broadly viewed as a visionary and computer pioneer, and his ideas have influenced many of the world's leading computer scientists.
Early life and education
Weiser was born in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, Illinois, to David and Audra Weiser. He grew up in
Stony Brook, New York.
He moved to
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...
, to study
philosophy at
New College of Florida but dropped out in his second year when he ran out of money.
He then moved to
Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he found a job as a
computer programmer.
While working as a computer programmer he began taking
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...
classes and excelled to the point that he was directly admitted into a master's program at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
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, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
He studied Computer and Communication Science at the University of Michigan, receiving an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 1976, and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1979.
Career
Weiser later taught computer science at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
and became associate chairman of the department in 1986.
Weiser joined
PARC (then Xerox PARC) in 1987 and became manager of its computer science laboratory in 1988, the same year he pioneered the concept of
ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
.
He became PARC's
chief technology officer in 1996.
Honors
In 2001, the
Association for Computing Machinery's special interest group in operating systems (SIGOPS) established the
Mark Weiser Award for individuals who innovate within operating systems research. The Mark D. Weiser Excellence in Computing Scholarship Fund at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
was also established in Weiser's memory.
Personal life
In addition to his work in the field of computer science, Weiser was also the
drummer for the avant-garde rock band,
Severe Tire Damage, which was the first band to broadcast live over the Internet.
On April 27, 1999, Weiser died of liver failure that was caused by cancer.
Ubiquitous computing and calm technology
During one of his talks, Weiser outlined a set of principles describing
ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using ...
:
* The purpose of a computer is to help you do something else.
* The best computer is a quiet, invisible servant.
* The more you can do by intuition the smarter you are; the computer should extend your ''unconscious''.
* Technology should create calm.
In ''Designing Calm Technology'',
Weiser and
John Seely Brown
John Seely Brown (born 1940), also known as "JSB", is an American researcher who specializes in organizational studies with a particular bend towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities. Brown served as Director of Xer ...
describe ''
calm technology'' as "that which informs but doesn't demand our focus or attention."
Low-powered portable computing
Weiser advocated to look at performance in non traditional ways. Instead of measuring computational performance in
MIPS, he focused on increasing the
instructions per joule of
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...
, pushing the
computer industry toward low-powered
portable computing.
Works
The Computer for the 21st Century - ''
Scientific American Special Issue on Communications, Computers, and Networks'', September, 1991
References
External links
Tribute Siteestablished at
Stanford University
*
Designing Calm Technology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiser, Mark
American computer scientists
1952 births
1999 deaths
American chief technology officers
Ubiquitous computing researchers
Place of death missing
University of Michigan alumni
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
People from Harvey, Illinois
Scientists at PARC (company)