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

I'm a skeptic.

[grub]

She says that in ten years, 20% of our clothes will incorporate some kind of electronic components.

Unless she's including RFID tags, that 20% figure sounds far too high. I can't believe that one-fifth of socks, pants, underwear, shirts, etc will contain electronic components in 10 short years.

Also, how will all these clothes be cleaned? Will they be safe to throw in our 2003 "stone age" washing machines when 2013 rolls around?

... Why ?

[Shiifty]

Why would you want to 'wear' a computer? There are very few of us who need to stay connected 24/7. And how do you wash the clothes? I don't want someone able to track me wherever I go (not that I'm hiding anything lol)

Seriously, PDA's are really coming along, in a couple years you'll have a fully functional computer inside a PDA with free wireless and everything you need. And if you need to hide for a while, its easy to 'forget' your computer in the house or car. You can't really do that with clothing.