ABSTRACT
The ubiquity of data collection devices is part of a vision that has been called 'ubiquitous computing' (ubicomp) or, more recently, an 'Internet of Things' in which, increasingly, every 'thing' either is a computer, has one attached to it, or at least in some way is connected to the Internet. The fact that data is being collected 'everywhere' by computing technology that has become 'ubiquitous' opens up many new possibilities for communication, participation, optimisation, or surveillance. The ubiquity of technology and the Internet is starting to blur the difference between being online and being offline. This chapter presents some lessons learned from a study of ubicomp within an organisation in the expectation that today's Internet of Things and the 'Industry 4.0' initiative in Germany in particular require ethnographers to study this digitisation of everyday workplace environments.
