Re: Luddites are everywhere!

From: hal@finney.org
Date: Wed Mar 15 2000 - 14:33:08 MST


News.com has an article on delays in Jini technology, which is Bill Joy's
project:

> The age of the Internet dishwasher was upon us.
>
> That, at least, is what Sun Microsystems promised last year with the
> introduction of its Jini software. The next-generation technology was
> supposed to create a new world of network-connected devices--videocameras,
> DVD players, lamps and coffee makers--that would be "on the market
> within 1999."
>
> But the ambitious timetable for the futuristic technology turned out to
> be more fiction than science. Although companies are beginning to work
> Jini into their plans, no major products have hit the market in the year
> since the software was trumpeted.

I think it's pretty obvious what the holdup is, given Bill Joy's
recent article in Wired. He envisions hordes of suddenly-intelligent
dishwashers, coffeepots and toaster ovens joining together in a massive
war of machines against humans. Desperate to avoid the sad fate of
being replaced by his own appliances, he is fighting furiously behind
the scenes to delay the project.

Our only hope for survival is if Bill can put the Jini back in the
bottle...

Hal



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