Sebastopol, CA--Hackers and other innovators have embraced the do-it-yourself renaissance, tweaking here and integrating there, creating new tools and inspiring a resurgence of hands-on experimentation. These new, unexpected combinations--and the opportunities they present--were the driving force behind the 2005 edition of ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, held in San Diego, California, March 14-17. The conference attracted over 800 attendees, making it one of the best-attended ETechs to date, illustrating both the popularity of "remix" and the pervasiveness of technology in our lives.
As new applications, services, and devices simultaneously converge and morph in unconventional ways, the lens of ETech--articulated on stage and throughout the program by conference chair Rael Dornfest and O'Reilly founder and CEO Tim O'Reilly--is particularly helpful in bringing new trends to light and focusing the future of computing technology for a wider audience. As in past years, ETech gave developers, IT decision-makers, lead users, engineers, and tech aficionados maximum exposure to new ideas and technologies through roll-up-your-sleeves tutorials, on-point plenary presentations, focused sessions that included late-breaking issues, and a relevant exhibit hall. Just a few of the intriguing speakers and topics at the conference included:
ETech's inaugural Maker Fair illustrated the popularity and "mass amateurization" of gadgets and grassroots projects. This science fair-like evening event showcased projects from O'Reilly's new MAKE magazine, which launched in March.
Several announcements were made at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference:
ETech sponsors also illustrated the event's technical breadth and appeal: Nokia, Apple Developer Connection, AT&T, Microsoft Reasearch, Yahoo! and Yahoo! Research Labs, Ask Jeeves, mFoundry, Salesforce.com, and Sxip.
From hacking a Mac mini into a 1950 Nash, predicting next-gen media, remixing DNA, sharing insights into the digitization of fabrication, exploring the swarming web, and much more, the 2005 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference publicly celebrated just a few of the many ideas, projects, and people destined to change the way we use technology every day.
The 2005 O'Reilly conference calendar includes the Where 2.0 Conference, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, and Web 2.0 (co-hosted by Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, and co-produced with MediaLive International). O'Reilly conferences bring together forward-thinking business and technology leaders, shaping ideas and influencing industries around the globe. For over 25 years, O'Reilly has facilitated the adoption of new and important technologies by the enterprise, putting emerging technologies on the map.
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.