this might well be to portray the sating of appetites as a hierarchical set of related preemptable task queues, with a queue established for each level of the hierarchy. The sating of particular appetites can then be expressed as applications invoked through these various task queues.

The point being that the acquisition of content or perhaps more appropriately stated, the sating of appetites, is a function of the net impact of needs across the full hierarchy. Being hungry for food is virtually always satisfied according to conventions established at a higher level; social conditioning is so effective that only in the most extraordinary circumstances will humans resort to cannibalism to avoid death by starvation. So, with that rather graphic image as background, let’s begin our consideration of the enhancements necessary to realize a truly effective transcendent personal device as determined by the needs of both species; that is, the human species as well as the transcendent personal device species. As prelude, we will consider the architecture of the mutationally derived device.

Architecture

The essence of the required enhancements is to position the transcendent personal device as a fully capable electronic extension of the person; to be owned by the person, to be carried by and operated by the person and to function purely on behalf of the person. This defines not only a set of anatomical and physiological characteristics for the transcendent personal device itself, characteristics that we’ll consolidate under the term architecture, but also a set of policy characteristics that must be established within the salient social ecosystems in which we want the device to function. In today’s typical deployment for example, a secure core is viewed under most policy specifications as the property of its issuer. However, the marketing message that conveys from the issuer to the user generally stresses the utility and security benefits that will accrue to the bearer of the personal device thanks to the secure core. For example, bank chip cards are token based credentials through which trust emanating from the issuer can be conveyed through the token, on behalf of the bearer, to other entities such as content providers. An issue arises with current architectures, however, in that the connection between the token and its rightful bearer is typically rather tenuous. Further, it is usually the prerogative of the service to which the device connects to determine whether this connection has been established to a satisfactory degree; this, we suggest, is a root contributor to the epidemic of identity theft that is sweeping the Internet and other social ecosystems today. Not because such services required too great a level of trust in the authentication of the bearer, but rather because they will accept too little.

From our perspective, to fully realize the utility of the transcendent personal device, a shift in emphasis relative to current personal electronic devices within existent human social ecosystems must occur. The preeminent such system, of course, is the governmental policy infrastructure formed under the auspices of trust established by the Constitution. Consequently, to effect the required policy shift, the transcendent personal device must be considered in operation, under the relevant law, to be a fiduciary agent acting on behalf of the bearer. This shift requires that the complete fiduciary responsibility of the transcendent personal device be to the bearer and not to the seller, provider or any other party. The result of this shift is to directly link the trust infrastructure of the transcendent personal device, as a subordinate trust infrastructure, to the trust infrastructure of the preeminent social ecosystem. This will, in turn precipitate a shift in orientation within the relevant policy infrastructures that will have to be established through law. It will entail modifications to the very fabric of society that we discussed a few chapters ago, particularly as it impacts extensions of this fabric into cyberspace. As this shift occurs, we can then begin to envision these evolutionary descendents of today’s personal electronic devices as

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