I ordered a few things from amazon.com and they soon after started sending me advertisements which I *think* must be tuned to my tastes according to what I have purchased from them. Or did they send this ad out to everybody? Has anyone else out in the writhing amoeba heard of Neil Gershenfeld? If their ads are tuned, they sure have *my* number. {8^D spike
When Things Start to Think
by Neil A. Gershenfeld
A computer in your shoe? Maybe so. Neil
Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Media Lab,
joins
the ranks of techno-prognosticators with
When
Things Start to Think, and his focus is on
how
the future of computing will fit into our
physical
realities. This sensorial focus allows
Gershenfeld
to explore such science fictional ideas as wearable
computers,
nanotech circuitry implants, as well as such concerns as
emotions,
money, and civil rights in the new age of artificial
intelligence.
Gershenfeld provides a historical overview of the
development of
computers and extrapolates a world in which we will be
forced to
deal with things that think all the time. This can't help
but reshape
our society in ways we must try to imagine. You may be
surprised
at how far along this road we are--Gershenfeld is in
exactly the right
place to tell this story, and it's a whole lot of fun
(and a little scary)
to ride this wave with him. --Adam Fisher