Friedemann Mattern: From Smart Devices to Smart Everyday Objects. 

Microelectronic devices are becoming so small and inexpensive that they can 
soon be embedded in almost everything, rendering everyday objects "smart". 
These smart objects may communicate by wireless means and form spontaneous 
networks, giving rise to a world-wide distributed system several orders of 
magnitude larger than today's Internet. The prospects of a world of smart 
things that virtually talk to each other are fascinating, leading to many new 
applications and opportunities. We summarize the technology trends behind the 
ubiquitous computing idea and discuss means to render everyday objects smart. 
We also mention some non-technical issues such as privacy aspects.