Abstract:
Computation and networking are ubiquitous. Many of us carry multiple networked computation devices almost constantly. Most of those devices spend much of their time exchanging data with external services via the Internet. But we still have to operate and manage them as independent devices, at best using cloud services to support limited integration within a closed ecosystem. So I believe it's time we thought more fundamentally about what a modern "personal computer" should be, and how the operating system can shape modern hardware to make one.
In particular, a core operating system design decision that dates back to the early days of digital computing was to focus on keeping the once expensive CPU busy by enabling it to be used by multiple concurrent users. However, in a personal computer comprising multiple devices I believe we should instead focus on helping individuals and groups to manage their data effectively. This means giving some thought to questions such as: Just what is an application? How should data be made available at the right times on the right devices? How should interactions among and between devices and the outside world be managed?
In this (very much work-in-progress!) talk I will try to articulate some of these questions, and give some thought to how they might be answered.
Bio:
mort (Richard Mortier) is Professor of Computing & Human-Data interaction at Cambridge University and Fellow of Christ's College. He is a computer scientist whose work has included distributed system performance monitoring and debugging, incentives in Internet routing protocols, real-time media platform design and implementation, and platforms for privacy preserving personal data processing. Current work includes computing at the edge of the network, building energy efficiency, and kernel scheduling for serverless workloads. Alongside his academic career, roles have included platform architect, founder, and CTO while consulting and working for startups and corporates in the US and the UK.
Online meeting link:
