[wordup] How smart does your bed have to be, before you are afraid to go to sleep at night?

[Adam Shand]

This is a great presentation.  I've just included some snippets, you 
should really go to the site and have a proper browse around.

Via: Brett Shand
Via: http://www.richgold.org/SMART/HTML/slide1.html
From: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000392.html

HOW SMART DOES YOUR BED HAVE TO BE, BEFORE YOU ARE AFRAID TO GO TO 
SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Rich Gold, Feb. 16, 1994, for Ars Electronica  Lintz Austria, June 21, 
1994

Do you believe that making pancakes for you and your lover in the 
morning is in itself a wonderful thing? If you were asked by your 
company to design a product called "Lover's Instant Pancakes" would 
you? Would you do it because that's your job or because, perhaps, you 
think it would give you more time for love making? What if they're not 
quite as good as made from scratch pancakes in taste? What if they 
don't quite fill the kitchen with the same smell? What if they contain 
a small, though probably not harmful, amount of preservative? If you 
are an architect and "Lover's Instant Pancakes" was a major success, 
would you build a special chute from the kitchen to the bedroom so that 
nobody has to leave bed to get the pancakes? Is there something special 
about the cold feet of a lover returning to bed? How do you know your 
lover loves you? What do you and your lover talk about?

...

Is time the only real commodity left? Why is Virtual Reality always 
posited in terms of space, when time is the only real commodity left?

...

When you design new things do you think you are solving a problem? When 
you design new things do you think that you are engaged in the dominant 
ritual behavior of your tribe? When you acquire things do you think you 
are solving some problem? When you acquire something do you think you 
are engaged in the ritual behavior of your tribe? If you are an artist 
does each one of your works of art solve a problem? If you buy works of 
art does each work of art purchased solve a problem? If you are an 
artist and were only allowed to create five works of art in your 
lifetime, what would they be?

...

Does your son or daughter ask you for a story before he or she goes to 
bed at night? If your son or daughter asked you for information instead 
of a story what information would you give him or her? Do you want 
information or a story from your house? Do you believe that Dan Rather 
on the nightly news is giving you information or a story? If the 
nightly news could be tailored for your individual taste what would be 
different, the information or the story? If your house needed to hear a 
story for it to go to sleep what story would you tell it? The Three 
Little Pigs? What information would you give it? Would you tell it that 
it is just a machine?

...

How many people do you think the Earth can support such that they all 
could live in reasonable homes? Would one hundred million in North 
America sound about right? Did you know that is about ten people per 
square mile? At the same density, do you know how many people there 
would be on the planet Earth? Does five hundred million seem about 
right? What should we do with the other nine/tenths of humanity? How 
much would I have to offer you to take early retirement from life? Do 
you think that the house you build to make you happy makes an equal or 
greater number of people unhappy somewhere else? What is the difference 
between a smart house and a happy house? Which would you rather live 
in?