spime

n.

A theoretical object that can be tracked precisely in space and time over the lifetime of the object. [Blend of space and time.]

Example Citations:

In Weinberger's words: Everything grows miscellaneous. And people are transformed into ubiquitous findable objects (UFOs), along with pets, products, possessions and places.

These UFOs, which Bruce Sterling labels spimes, are objects precisely located in space and time. They ingest their own metadata. They accumulate histories. They network with peers. They are scary, infinitely complex and almost inconceivable.

— Peter Morville, "A Garden of Forking Paths," Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, February 1, 2006

In an age of spimes — products with websites and bar codes — we can and will make the right decisions about what to purchase and produce.

— Susan Salter Reynolds, "When worlds collide," Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2006

Earliest Citation:

The next stage is an object that does not exist yet. It needs a noun, so that we can think about it. We can call it a "Spime," which is a neologism for an imaginary object that is still speculative. A Spime also has a kind of person who makes it and uses it, and that kind of person is somebody called a "Wrangler." At the moment, you are end-using Gizmos. My thesis here, my prophesy to you, is that, pretty soon, you will be wrangling Spimes.

The most important thing to know about Spimes is that they are precisely located in space and time. They have histories. They are recorded, tracked, inventoried, and always associated with a story.

Spimes have identities, they are protagonists of a documented process.

They are searchable, like Google. You can think of Spimes as being auto-Googling objects.

— Bruce Sterling, "When Blobjects Rule the Earth," SIGGRAPH: http://www.boingboing.net/images/blobjects.htm, August 1, 2004

Notes:

See also this pure blend of space and time:

In the tune "If You Got The Money Honey, I Got The Time," I included, "We'll go to your penthouse and get into the 'spime." I read a lot about science and you're always hearing about the SpaceTime Continuum. spime is my abbreviation for that.

— "Backstage With ... Mose Allison," Down Beat, April 1, 2006

Related Words:

civionics

cradle-to-cradle

cradle-to-gate

data exhaust

data shadow

e-textile

gadget porn

physible

smart dust

smartifact

Swiss Army phone

Categories:

Data

Internet

Technology (General)