Information as a service.
This post on Eyeteeth, reminded me of a post I’d written a little while ago around using information or metadata as a service. Unfortunately, the above image is only advertising from Saatchi for the WWF, however it’s a brilliant example of how consumption information can be built into the objects we use on a daily basis.
Imagine replacing the scale on your washing machine so that in addition to heat settings you also had cost settings, or dimmer switches for lights that showed you energy consumption at various levels. Printing CO2 emissions required to produce various consumables directly on them would also start to bring home the impact of our lifestyles. However, bringing the concept of meta data into other areas could have benefits beyond environmental.