Basically, on a scale of one to ten, a product with a level zero is context intelligence. For the moment, that might consist of knowing when to propose a product, rather than wait until the customer decides to buy : for example, a florist might be advised to keep a data base containing the birthdays of her customers' wives, and to remind the former a few days before the birthday each year to suggest they buy flowers. Another example : a Japanese company has installed refrigerators connected to Internet in certain households. Before throwing away the packaging from certain products which they've just finished, the inhabitants pass it in front of a bar-code reader, which transmits the information to a server, which orders a replacement of the product. Intelligence level number one consists of personalising the product in relation to the user's needs. If you connect to Levi's Website - http://www.levis.com, customers are invited to enter their measurements. When they buy a pair of jeans, it is made to measure. Level two consists of incorporating an intelligent element into an object : a search agent loaded onto an analytical portable telephone helpfully tells you your telephone's different functions, carries out certain tasks automatically for you (rings a series of different people to inform them of a meeting, or looks for the cheapest products for you) or recommends a film which might be to your taste. We will explore product intelligence levels three to ten in the subsequent versions of this guide.

Chapter 4 How the digital butterflies share the work