Korea's High-Tech (DIS)Utopia, Where Everything Is Observed . Welcome to “Planned-opolis”

South Korea was chosen for the test because, in the words of the city’s developers, “There is an historical expectation of less privacy.”

The U-Life South Korea plans to spend $25 billion on New Songdo, the world's largest "ubiquitous city," with computers linking home life and life on its streets. Construction, 40 miles from Seoul, is to be done in 2014.

“Imagine public recycling bins that use radio-frequency identification technology to credit recyclers every time they toss in a bottle; pressure-sensitive floors in the homes of older people that can detect the impact of a fall and immediately contact help; cellphones that store health records and can be used to pay for prescriptions.

These are among the services dreamed up by industrial-design students at California State University, Long Beach, for possible use in New Songdo City, a large “ubiquitous city” being built in South Korea.

Much of this technology was developed in U.S. research labs, but there are fewer social and regulatory obstacles to implementing them in Korea,” said Mr. Townsend [a research director at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California], who consulted on Seoul’s own U-city plan, known as Digital Media City. “There is an historical expectation of less privacy. Korea is willing to put off the hard questions to take the early lead and set standards.”

Full story:

www.nytimes.com

“Planned-opolis”:




More information:

IBM
Microsoft

This is their idea of a better world? What will happen to traditional notions of privacy in an “Everyware” world? Could individuals and dissidents potentially be electronically blacklisted and denied access to cashless payment systems and transit systems as if they were a banned web page in the “internet of things”? This is about power. Total power. Total control. This is really about the state trying to become God. It remains to be seen whether the ubiquitous computing infrastructure can be fully realized, but it is a technological trend with vastly important implications that is worth keeping an eye on.

reply to post by RUSSO

swedishexmil Says:

January 6th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
1940 Germany

Teacher at university Berlin: “-Where did the jewish neighbor go?”
Gestapo man: “-We sent them to a country farm for designated work!”

20XX The Planet Earth

Joe Average: “-Where did Pete and Mikey go?”
DHS Goon: “-Their over at Cry Freedom Getto doing designated work!”