Chic Gear to Suit Net Generation

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article, BBC News Online says that fashion specialists and engineers are preparing the next generation of wearable computing fashion accessories. Current ones are too conspicuous and expensive. Joseph Dvorak, a researcher at Motorola US, predicts the computers and technology we wear in four or five years time will not draw attention to ourselves. And Dr. Dianne Jones from textile company SOFTswitch, maker of the Burton Amp jacket which integrates an Apple iPod, thinks that the wearable computing industry will grow rapidly. She says that in ten years, 20% of our clothes will incorporate some kind of electronic components. This summary contains more details and references."

Comments

Re:I'm a skeptic.

[iainl]

Forget cleaning, I'm more concerned with replacing things.

Right now, I can stick my PDA, Walkman, Phone and watch (or even leave behind those bits I'm not needing) in the pockets of any item of clothing with pockets big enough to store them. This way, I only need one of each, and replace the one component that needs to be done if it breaks or is replaced with a better model.

Stick it all built into clothes, and you've not only massively increased the price of the clothes, but I need to worry about which jacket I've stored the record I want to listen to, the fact that I've lost my diary information because the trousers it was stored in have a hole in the knee, and what to do when my favorite T-Shirt is Orange, and won't take a Vodaphone Sim card.