The Story of Sally: A Techno-Fable
as told to us by Larry
Moneta
Associate Vice President for Campus Services - University of Pennsylvania
Posted: May, 11, 2001 Student
Affairs Online, 2 (Spring)
Sally, after 3 days of suffering from a sore throat, logs onto her
student health web site, checks out information on strep and other
causes of sore throats and proceeds to schedule an appointment with
an RN (as suggested by the info page) for a throat culture.
When, a few minutes later, Sally receives an e-mail confirming her
appointment, she imports the time and date (tomorrow) in her online
calendar and while she is in her calendar, also records her study
group meeting and intramural Ultimate games. A quick e-mail check
brings up photos from her sister of their summer trip to Spain….
those are saved for later review.
With some time to kill before dinner, Sally brings up a new file
sharing program and finds and downloads a Dave Mathews song she has
been hearing around her residence hall. When the download is
complete, she transfers the song, and several others, to the MP3
module in her Visor personal digital assistant and then synchs her
Visor to update her calendar and contact lists.
Just as the synch is completed, her Visor sounds reminding her to
leave for dinner and pick up David, on the next hall, on the way.
Before leaving, though, Sally brings up the dining web site, checks
the menu (to see what she’ll want to eat) and then swipes her
I.D. card through a reader attached to her own computer. In moments a
screen pops up with information on her meal plan utilization to date
and her remaining balance. Additionally, a screen appears with
alternate dining venues, current number of diners and approximate
number of empty seats in each of these locations. Satisfied with
tonight’s meal options and with her meal count availability,
Sally heads out to dinner with David. As she leaves, her proximity
card signals the door locking sensors and adjusts the climate control
thermostat into the "out of room" position.
After dinner, David and Sally swing by the student union, where
David, using his ID smart card (which has been linked to his bank
account) withdraws some cash from an ATM. Sally, meanwhile, drifts
into the bookstore and buys a new notebook and a few personal
supplies. At checkout, she offers her ID card, and charges the
purchase to her University billing account.
Sally reconnects with David at a nearby e-mail kiosk. While David
checks his e-mail, Sally pulls out her cell phone module for the
Visor and calls other members of her Ultimate team to notify them of
the upcoming practices. Using a group calling feature offered by her
wireless carrier, all of Sally’s messages end up on voicemail
recordings.
Sally heads back to her residence hall and passes through her
two-step entry portal to get in. In the first step, invisible sensors
pick up a signal from the proximity components of her ID card and
before she taken another step, loads her hand biometric data into a
reader at the next doorway. Sally slips her hand into the reader and
immediately gets a green light overhead allowing her to proceed into
her hall. A few minutes later at her room door, Sally swipes her card
in the electronic door lock and enters her room. Instantly, the
climate control sensor readjusts the room temperature to Sally’s
preset preference.
Sally now makes herself comfortable at her computer. First, she
loads-up a bunch of her favorite songs from her vast online
collection into her Real Jukebox, activates her netcam so she can be
seen by friends…and mom, and begins to IM several of her friends
(and mom) who happen to be online at the moment. Within a few
minutes, Sally’s simultaneously communicating with a half dozen
friends around the country, her sister, Lisa, who’s on a
semester abroad program in Prague…and mom. Eventually, realizing
that no schoolwork will get done, Sally posts her away message on the
instant messaging program and brings up her course on Blackboard.
This semester, one of her faculty members is experimenting with
on-line curriculum support using the Blackboard system. On this day,
Sally finds an updated message from the professor on plans for the
upcoming class as well as several new links containing all the
reading materials for this class. To her surprise (and dismay) Sally
also finds that this professor has assigned her to a project group
with three of her least favorite classmates and that this foursome
now has an independent listserv and chatroom for group consultation
and dialogue. It’s too early in the evening to think about this
project.
Some online reading completed, Sally drifts to a few of her
favorite web sites: Pricemate for a check on reverse-auction option;
Biztravel to check on current prices for airline tickets to Cozumel
(Spring Break’s coming…..) and 98six for more info on her
still nagging sore throat.
Finally, having finished her online business (including responding
to about 20 e-mails), having read several chapters from a real book,
and having drafted an outline for a paper (with genuine pen and
paper) Sally ----
Adds a new memory stick to her digital camera
Flips on her T.V. to the campus movie channel
Throws popcorn into her microwave
Sets an alarm on her Visor for her morning health center
appointment
Updates her Visor, once again
Plugs her phone into its recharger
And brushes her teeth…with an electric toothbrush, or
course.
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