Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- A quick tour through the book
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue: Blog entry from Jonathan Hey
- 1 Beginnings of a revolution
- 2 The hardware
- 3 The software is in the holes
- 4 Programming languages and software engineering
- 5 Algorithmics
- 6 Mr. Turing’s amazing machines
- 7 Moore’s law and the silicon revolution
- 8 Computing gets personal
- 9 Computer games
- 10 Licklider’s Intergalactic Computer Network
- 11 Weaving the World Wide Web
- 12 The dark side of the web
- 13 Artificial intelligence and neural networks
- 14 Machine learning and natural language processing
- 15 The end of Moore’s law
- 16 The third age of computing
- 17 Computers and science fiction – an essay
- Epilogue: From Turing’s padlocked mug to the present day
- Appendix 1 Length scales
- Appendix 2 Computer science research and the information technology industry
- How to read this book
- Notes
- Suggested reading
- Figure credits
- Name index
- General index
Prologue: Blog entry from Jonathan Hey
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- A quick tour through the book
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue: Blog entry from Jonathan Hey
- 1 Beginnings of a revolution
- 2 The hardware
- 3 The software is in the holes
- 4 Programming languages and software engineering
- 5 Algorithmics
- 6 Mr. Turing’s amazing machines
- 7 Moore’s law and the silicon revolution
- 8 Computing gets personal
- 9 Computer games
- 10 Licklider’s Intergalactic Computer Network
- 11 Weaving the World Wide Web
- 12 The dark side of the web
- 13 Artificial intelligence and neural networks
- 14 Machine learning and natural language processing
- 15 The end of Moore’s law
- 16 The third age of computing
- 17 Computers and science fiction – an essay
- Epilogue: From Turing’s padlocked mug to the present day
- Appendix 1 Length scales
- Appendix 2 Computer science research and the information technology industry
- How to read this book
- Notes
- Suggested reading
- Figure credits
- Name index
- General index
Summary
Key moments in tech history
I can still, and perhaps will always, remember:
The first day we connected our NES to our TV and Mario appeared
The first day I instant messaged a friend using MSN Messenger from France to England
The first day I was doing a presentation and said I could get online without a cable
The first day I was carrying my laptop between rooms and an email popped up on my computer
The first day I tentatively spoke into my computer and my friend’s voice came back
The first day the map on my phone automatically figured out where I was
Each of these moments separately blew my mind on the day. It was like magic when they happened. The closest I have had recently was probably the first successful call using Facetime and waving my hand at a Kinect sensor. (Another, that most people probably haven’t experienced, was watching a glass door instantly turn opaque at the touch of a button. Unbelievable.)
Each of these moments blew me away because things happened that weren’t even part of my expectations. I expect our expectations these days have now risen sufficiently high that it’ll probably take teleportation to get a similar effect from a teenager. Maybe life would be more fun if we kept our expectations low?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Computing UniverseA Journey through a Revolution, pp. xv - xviPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014