Given that O’Reilly Media is best known (by me, anyway) for its publishing/writing conferences, the notice about their Solid Conference abut the ‘internet of things’, etc. was unexpected’. From the O’Reilly Media Feb. 26, 2014 news release,
The “punctuated equilibrium” theory asserts that rapid bursts of change upend the leisurely pace of species stasis, creating events that result in new species and leave few fossils behind.
Technology has reached the cusp of such an event. Call it the Internet of Things, the Age of Intelligent Devices, the Industrial Internet, the Programmable World, a neologism of your own choosing—it amounts to the same thing—the intersection of software, the Internet, big data, and physical objects. Ultimately, our entire environment will be connected and intelligent.
To mark this seachange moment, O’Reilly Media introduces Solid Conference, scheduled for May 21-22 at Fort Mason in San Francisco.
“As big data moves from the Web into the physical world, it’s more important than ever that people who deal with software and people who deal with hardware and machinery understand each other,” says Jon Bruner, who chairs Solid with MIT Media Lab’s Joi Ito. “Solid is about creating an interdisciplinary mix of the sort that everyone—designers, engineers, investors, researchers, entrepreneurs—will need to tap in the coming year.”
Chairs Ito and Bruner have drafted a stellar lineup of innovators, funders, and visionaries for the conference, including:
- Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at Google[x]
- Rodney Brooks, CTO and Chairman of Rethink Robotics
- Tim O’Reilly, Founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media
- Andra Keay, Managing Director at Silicon Valley Robotics
- Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk, Inc.
- Moe Tanabian, Director of Mobile Technology at Samsung Mobile
- Aurora Thornhill, Head of the Project Specialist Team at Kickstarter
- Ayah Bdeir, Founder and CEO of littleBits
- Matthew Gardiner, Artist and Senior Lead Researcher at Ars Electronica Futurelab
- Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms
- Brian Gerkey, CEO of Open Source Robotics Foundation
- Renee DiResta, Principal at OATV
- Timothy Prestero, Founder and CEO of Design that Matters
- Janos Veres, Manager of the Printed Electronics Team at PARC
Solid is more show than tell. “This isn’t about sitting in a conference room and getting your brain freeze-dried by PowerPoint presentations,” Bruner says. “You’ll see demonstrations of real networked products and participate in intensive colloquies with those leading us into this new era. People who come to Solid won’t just be attending a conference. They’ll be walking through a portal to a new world.”
Early registration discounts apply until March 20.
As expected, this is not a cheap conference; an early bird all access pass for the two-day conference is $1095.00 USD.
Here’s my recounting of the March 12, 2014 ‘Solid’ web presentation by Tim O’Reilly & Jim Stogdill.
11:01 am O’Reilly: Longstanding interest in ‘maker’ movement since early 2000’s .
11:03 am O’Reilly: everything is connected ‘internet of things’, big data, robotics, maker movement, etc.
11:05 Stogdill: not sure name Solid is bit enough to describe this upcoming conference
11:05 Stogdill: says hardware is malleable (?) … more accessible, i.e., parts are easier to access and it’s easier to customize
11:08 O’Reilly: moves to subject of design … massive dislocation due to computers, e.g. graphic design … we need process designers (?) .. collisions between specialties
11:09 O’Reilly: collective intelligence and man/machine symbiosis important ideas for our age
11:11 O’Reilly: how do we change the interaction with a thermostat … remove need for human input
11:14 Stodgill: business models not taking advantage of open source options
11:15 O’Reilly: different options for future such as Google/Apple/… Internet of things (proprietary model) or a freely interoperable system of things
11:17 Stodgill: shifting to robotics … integrate virtual/digital/macro worlds in their work and thinking
11:18 O’Reilly: our notion of robots is of autonomous (intelligent) devices but we are surrounded by robots, e.g., washing machine that aren’t autonomous
11:20 Stogdill: shifting to manufacturing … talking about frictionless manufacturing … new relationship for Silicon Valley and China
11:23 O’Reilly: it doesn’t have to be China .. all the relationships are changing
11:24 O’Reilly: replacing matter with mathematics
11:25 O’Reilly: how you remake an industry, e.g., Square which started as a hardware company which turns a phone into a point-of-sale system
11:29 Stogdill: change topic to surveillance and privacy .. digital thermostats recently put in Stogdill’s home .. he had them taken them offline while he was on vacation as he didn’t want the info. on the internet while he was gone (?)
11:32 O’Reilly: not good to be afraid of the future .. Stogdill agrees
11:33 O’Reilly: solid is already big in agriculture .. sensors, robotics, etc.
11:42 O’Reilly: answer to my question (Will UK PM David Cameron’s latest ‘internet of things’ funding announcement have an impact on gov’t funding in US?) .. there’s already lots of government funding here [in US] e.g. Google purchases of DARPA-funded companies … didn’t see much impact other than it’s good when governments invest … [see March 10, 2014 article by Jessica Bland for the Guardian about Cameron’s announcement]
11:45 off my Twitter feed, a tweet that seems synchronous in a Carl Jung kind of way:
High-tech maker space TechShop planned for Ireland at DCU Innovation Campus #TechShopsiliconrepublic.com/innovation/ite…via @siliconrepublic et moi
11:46 O’Reilly: sees big ‘Solid’ innovation in industrial space rather than consumer space
11:48 Stogdill: love the idea of generativity, i.e., innovation from unexpected quarters
11:49 Question: What is the stuff that matters
11:49 Stogdill: health care
11:50 O’Reilly: yes, health care and the environment .. e.g., keeping track of elderly parent and talks about mother-in-law, many years ago, having a stroke and laying on floor for days because family was not in town
11:51: question: How do we manage hacking?
11:52: O’Reilly: you have to be considering security but thoughtfully … not trying to anticipate everything that can go wrong and creating rules to avoid the problem .. but putting some thought into what might go wrong and responding appropriately when something does happen …
11:54 Stogdill: there’s an asymmetry problem when things go digital .. e.g. if you want to throw a rock throw his [Stogdill’s] windows you have to be there physically … digitally, anyone from anywhere has access
11:55 Question: What do we need to know to get started (paraphrase)
11:55 O’Reilly: there are some great programmes at university but right now you can get at least as much by playing around
11:57 Question: Are you optimistic?
11:57 O’Reilly: Yes, I am optimistic… and we do have possibilities both positive and negative … most concerned about anti-science movement … worse case scenario: anti-science and anti-technology backlash hits just when water, climate change, and other issues become pressing …
11:59 Stogdill: James Watt thought they were building a steam engine but they also created modernism and many other isms
12 pm O’Reilly: Lots to be optimistic about and lots to care about
I don’t know if they’ll be making this video available but you can try looking here.
ETA March 17, 2014: You can find the video for the O’Reilly/Stogdill on the Solid YouTube playlist or you can go directly to the video here.