This short article considers how amateurs use computers. An amateur is a person who is free to experiment (the word “amateur” comes from the Latin word “amator,” to love). While the computer specialist is mostly interested in tasks and productivity, the amateur is interested in the life experience brought about by computers.

Ubiquitous computing means that computers are everywhere, and people tend to use computers beyond what they were designed to do. Amateurs have redirected the techniques and tools away from their typical usage. They work independent of the academic and industrial research communities. As computer specialists, we can choose to either ignore this, thus isolating ourselves and our community, or embrace change and cooperate with these expert amateurs.

The author uses the term “citizen science” to describe the new cooperation between computer experts and other users aiming to create “positive societal change ... with improved public understanding of our environment and urban ecology.” When designing computer applications, we should not only focus on usability, but also consider the usefulness and relevancy of our designs to our world, its citizens, and our environment.

This interesting article is intended to show computers specialists that they should broaden their understanding of how computers are ultimately used.