I have designed the Brewcast project, a communication interface that attempts to combine
coffee drinking, social networking technology and telecommunication interface design. By
making a functioning prototype, I attempt to problematize current design conventions and
motivations, placing value on the narrative of the design, a design fiction. The design fiction I
create in my work takes place in a near-future where post smartphone culture, ubiquitous
computing and wide spread internet or network access has replaced the need for individualized
smart-phones and social networking apps. Through this widespread access to wi-fi hotspots that
provide city-wide internet access people may be less inclined to carry around a personal
communication device because of access to internet based connection almost anywhere. Social
networking may revert back to traditional social collective interaction styles with the obsolescing
of individualized mobile communication technologies. Durational interactions, like coffee
drinking, could become a model for these social interaction technologies.

• http://stephensurlin.com/