Beeline To The Future

A couple of years ago I reviewed David Levy’s book Love and Sex with Robots for the New York Review of Science Fiction. My review was lukewarm because I felt that Levy’s book was, despite its sensationalistic material, rather bland. Levy was trying so hard to make his presentation scholarly and intellectual rather than tabloidesque that he managed to wring much of the life from his topic. Despite the limits of his presentation, I did agree with most of his argument.

Wired posted an excellent interview with science fiction writer and mathematician Vernor Vinge entitled “Vernor Vinge Is Optimistic About the Collapse of Civilization”
(http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/vernor-vinge-geeks-guide-galaxy/a...).

In the mid-60s Gordon E. Moore predicted that computer processors would double in speed and memory every 18 months. This prediction has been so accurate since then that it has become known as Moore’s law; however, Moore’s law will eventually come grinding to a halt because of leakage, heat, and other inevitable physical limits.

As I’ve pointed out in previous columns, I prefer Macs to PCs; however, I recently bought a new windows laptop. The primary reason is that I just started a new job as a computer trainer at a public library, teaching technical classes with an emphasis on Microsoft Office and Windows. I will eventually have the flexibility to add classes on iOS and maybe Macs, but the emphasis will be the Microsoft software people use in most offices. Although the library provides me with a desktop, I felt I should have a Windows laptop at home to practice and use the software I’ll be teaching.