Friday, February 7, 2020

Will the Transformation of Computing Be Never Ending?

Photo from Gigabyte Magazine
Growing up in the early 2000's, it was incredible to partially witness the transformation of cellular devices. It's truly evolutionary, not only for the development of technology, but also for the development of humans. Cellphones have impacted the way we communicate and consume information, ultimately through the creation of the digital era (also known as the Information Age). In fact, a lot of the computing transformations we've seen over the last 20 years were somewhat foretold by a man named David Gelernter.

Photo of David Gelernter
Gelernter, a Professor of Computer Science at Yale University, is well known for his 1999 manifesto titled, "The Second Coming," which focuses heavily on the transformation of modern computing. To sum it up, his manifesto is a giant list of his interpretations on not only how technology will be transformed, but also how technology will transform the human race.

In his manifesto, he makes the a claim regarding peoples personal information being stored on computers. "Your whole electronic life will be stored in a cyberbody. You can summon it to any [computer] at any time." Depending on how you interpret this claim, you could very well say that Gelernter predicted the future. In the mid-2000's, newly created social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, allowed people the ability to store their personal information digitally online. Whether this would be through text, photo, or video, you were able to create a new life online through digital technology. These websites are the cyberbodies that store our information.

Fast forward to 2020, we are still undergoing these transformations. Things like:

  • Storing personal information online (Social Media)
  • Digital communication (iMessage, Snapchat, Instagram Stories, etc.)
  • Applying for jobs (such as using LinkedIn, Handshake, etc.)
  • Ordering food at a restaurant (Kiosk Technology)
  • Requesting Physical Transportation (such as Uber and Lyft)

These technological transformations have been going on constantly for the past two decades, and I strongly believe that they will continue indefinitely. In Gelernter's manifesto, he does not directly discuss how long it will take for the transformation of computing to be complete; however, he does state that in the future, we will have plenty of technology - and the best consequence will be that we no longer have to think about technology. Does this mean that the Information Age will evolve into something else? Does it mean that we humans will get to a point where we can no longer make advancements in technology? What do you think will happen?


4 comments:

  1. Great write up jschmon, Gelernter's piece was definitely an extremely insightful piece. I love that you leave the reader to answer these noir-esque questions. Is there actually a point where we cease to advance technologically? As a society? If so, then what is our purpose? Crazy stuff to think about.

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    1. Thanks for your feedback, Jacob. I'm looking forward to the future and what it has to offer. I hope the human race doesn't end up fully dependent on technology, but we'll see what happens!

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  2. Hi jschmon,

    I enjoyed your opening sentence because we all grew up in the 2000 and witnessed the fast paces evolution of technology especially when you look at the fact that the iPhone had a million times more computing power than the Apollo 11 guidance computer. I also liked the fact that you picked out a specific number on Gelernter's manifesto and pointed out relevant examples.

    However, I think you could elaborate on the questions you pose on at the end and move them further to the middle so you can give enough room to elaborate on and add something to the examples, besides just posing the questions.

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    1. Thanks Parth for your feedback. I appreciate that you could personally connect to my post! I also appreciate that you left me some advice regarding the unanswered questions, and I'll certainly keep it in mind for next time!

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