Communications - May 2012

tal storage locker for their lives. It’s a
place where they are able to put things
they want to retain and where they can
reflect on their identity.”
Yet, it is also clear that digital pos-
sessions create their own set of chal-
lenges and frustrations. These range
from people deleting photos and tags
on a social media site to enduring a
hard drive crash and the loss of an en-
tire music collection or photo library, if
the data is not backed up. In addition,
there is the risk of a device manufac-
turer or service provider vanishing and
taking the content with it, as well as file
formats and codecs becoming obsolete
and thus rendering old audio record-
ings or videos unplayable.

Separating co-owned digital items can also prove daunting. In the past, when a couple broke up, dividing a stack of books or CDs was a fairly straightforward proposition. However, divvying up digital content that may reside on multiple computers and have DRM restrictions is vexing. Trying to sort out who controls a jointly owned World of Warcraft account or other online content—accessed through shared passwords—can confound and frustrate even the most level-headed individuals.

Not surprisingly, researchers are examining ways to improve how we manage virtual possessions. For example, Zimmerman hopes to encode metadata into virtual things. This might encompass status updates, favorite songs associated with a particular event along

the boundaries and
distinctions between
digital and physical
possessions are
blurring as virtual
objects become
more commonplace.

with news and weather information. It is also important to view digital spaces differently, he argues. Instead of using a digital picture frame to display hundreds or thousands of random photos, for example, it is possible to dedicate a frame to one person or a particular theme and use multiple frames.

Kleine says there is also a growing desire to create physical manifestations of virtual things. The popularity of scrapbooking and the yearning to assemble online photo books and print them for posterity is no accident, she says. There is also an evolving desire to capture screen shots of online badges, trophies, and other creations. And 3D printing, which is advancing rapidly, is bridging the digital and physical worlds by giving virtual objects, such as toys, trophies, and characters in games, actual physical form.

In the end, perhaps only one thing
is entirely clear: The boundaries and
distinctions between digital and physi-
cal possessions are blurring as virtual
objects become more commonplace.
As a result, our thinking and behavior
is changing... yet remaining much the
same. “Humans have a psychological
need to attach to things and hang on
to them,” says Kleine. “Regardless of
whether an object exists in the digital
or physical realm, there’s a need to feel
that it is tangible and real.”

Milestones

Computer Science Awards

The National Inventors Hall of fame and the Computing research Association recently honored leading computer scientists.

NAtioNAL iNVeNtoRs
hALL of fAme
The National Inventors Hall of
fame’s 2012 inductees include
MI T Institute Professor Barbara
Liskov, whose innovations
in the design of computer
programming languages helped
make computer programs
more reliable, secure, and
easy to use; IBM researchers

Lubomyr Romankiw and David
Thompson, who invented
the first practical magnetic
thin-film storage heads; Gary
Starkweather, whose laser
printer, invented at the Xerox
PArC facility, was the first to
print images that could be
created on a computer; and
Apple and Pixar cofounder Steve
Jobs, who was posthumously
recognized for his technology
contributions, which included
more than 300 patents and
revolutionized entire industries,
including personal computing,
mobile phones, animated
movies, digital publishing, and
retailing.

CRA AWARDs
The Computing research
Association awarded the
2012 A. Nico Habermann
Award to Lucy Sanders, Ceo,
National Center for Women
& Information Technology
(NCWIT); Robert Schnabel,
Dean, School of Informatics,
Indiana University; and Telle
Whitney, Ceo and President
of the Anita Borg Institute for
Women and Technology for
their joint efforts to establish
and sustain the NCWIT, which
is dedicated to encouraging
greater participation of
women in the development
of computing technology.
Susan L. Graham, Pehong
Chen Distinguished Professor
emerita at the University of
California, Berkeley, received
2012 Distinguished Service
Award “in recognition of the
extraordinary contributions
that she has made over more
than three decades of dedicated
and selfless service and
leadership.”
—Jack Rosenberger