On Sat, 12 Jun 1999 12:10:45 -0700 Spike Jones <spike66@ibm.net> writes:
>Please, those in the know, give me examples of areas that
>were once considered the domain of carbon based computers,
>that are now done by silicon, and speculate on near future
>domains where the trasition is yet to occur. spike
Talk to an old engineer, and one will discover that in the not-too-recent past, each engineer was supported by 3-5 clerical/support people: draftsmen, secretaries.
Talk to an old machinist, and one will discover that not too long ago, machines were made by hand. Now CNC mills do much of that work. Even tool-making is becoming automated.
Ten years ago, plastic mold cavity design was an art. Now my brother has software that does shrinkage and tolerancing, letting him produce more molds in less time than ever, and produce tool-path calculations for the CNC mill (which was formerly a highly-paid specialty).
I think that computer programming is the next frontier. We already have
genetic
programming.