I’m going to be speaking at Solid in San Francisco, May 21-22. (That also means I’m in San Francisco from about the 19th of May – drop me a line if you’d like to meet up).

My talk is called A Lamppost Is A Thing Too:

“Connected Object” brings to mind white consumer goods with an Ethernet sockets or Wifi antennas. But that’s a narrow way of thinking that’s perhaps unhelpful: whatever you may think of the term, an “Internet of Things” should embrace the diversity of Thingness.

Perhaps a better model for understanding what connected objects can and could be is the furniture of a city. It’s public, shared, and represents a relationship not only with an object but with services or infrastructure. Connected Objects aren’t just going to be devices we own: they’re going to be public objects we share. And they can’t just work with bespoke apps for niche smartphones: public Connected Objects will need to be far more democratic in their technology choices.

So: a bit about Things; a bit about Hello Lamppost, and how it’s not just a charming/playful art project; a bit about what Things can be, and on Connected Civic Objects. Perhaps a new demo of work in progress. It looks like a great lineup: perhaps see you there.