Ubiquitous computing and databases

The concept of the so-called ubiquitous computing was introduced in the early 1990s as the third wave of computing to follow the eras of the mainframe and the personal computer. Unlike previous technology generations, ubiquitous computing recedes into the background of everyday life: It activates the world, makes computers so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it, and is invisible, everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of any sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere. (Weiser & Brown, 1997, p. 81