146 replies to this topic

[FutureOfToday]

It's incredible, because money was worth more back then than it is now, so this would be like paying £30,000 for an iPad.

[wjfox]

Man working at analog computer, 1968

[wjfox]

45 years from now, in the year 2058, our computers today will seem just as primitive.

[DJKiran]

in colour?

[Futurist]

in colour?

They already had color photos in 1968.

[SG-1]

Imagine trying to run something simple like "Minesweeper" on that thing.

 

Crazy how far we have come, and yet like Will said, in 50 years from now computers the size of a blood cell will be much more powerful than computers such as our laptops or cellphones are today - the iPhone 5S seems primitive.

[Squillimy]

There's a good chance we won't even have "computers" in the year 2060. As computing shifts towards cloud computing and printable electronics allows you to have cheap HD displays, the "tablets" of today could just be cheap $5 screen displays with all your data hooked up to the cloud. just like non-internet flip phones are today!

 

What's interesting to think of: is the "cutting edge" tech of that era. There's always some "thing" that everyone wants, so what would that be? My bet: the new FIVR kit 2.0

[CyberMisterBeauty]

There's a good chance we won't even have "computers" in the year 2060. As computing shifts towards cloud computing and printable electronics allows you to have cheap HD displays, the "tablets" of today could just be cheap $5 screen displays with all your data hooked up to the cloud. just like non-internet flip phones are today!
 
What's interesting to think of: is the "cutting edge" tech of that era. There's always some "thing" that everyone wants, so what would that be? My bet: the new FIVR kit 2.0

 
Atomic-molecular ultrahyper powerful Quantum computing!!          

[FutureOfToday]

Amazing how far they advanced in just thirty years, considering this is what computers looked like in 1998:

[SG-1]

30 years ago was 1983 lol.

So.. amazing what they've done in 15 years!

[FutureOfToday]

I was actually referring to 1998 as being 30 years after 1968, but I think the development in the past 15 years is even more impressive!

[ralfy]

Given peak oil, global warming, and chronic economic crisis, we will probably be lucky if we can still manufacture or maintain computers.

[wjfox]

Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana

By Clifford Stoll
February 26, 1995

After two decades online, I'm perplexed. It's not that I haven't had a gas of a good time on the Internet. I've met great people and even caught a hacker or two. But today, I'm uneasy about this most trendy and oversold community. Visionaries see a future of telecommuting workers, interactive libraries and multimedia classrooms. They speak of electronic town meetings and virtual communities. Commerce and business will shift from offices and malls to networks and modems. And the freedom of digital networks will make government more democratic.

Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.

Consider today's online world. The Usenet, a worldwide bulletin board, allows anyone to post messages across the nation. Your word gets out, leapfrogging editors and publishers. Every voice can be heard cheaply and instantly. The result? Every voice is heard. The cacophany more closely resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harrasment, and anonymous threats. When most everyone shouts, few listen. How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it's an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can't tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure.


Read more: http://www.newsweek.....nirvana-185306

[zEVerzan]

Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure.

 

 

He had me right up until this arbitrary skepticism right here. It's almost a joke, with a lead-up and a punchline!

[UFG]

http://www.futuretim...rnet-will-fail/

[Yuli Ban]

Of course the Web wasn't Nirvana. It's obviously Pearl Jam.

 

No good, too soon?

[GenX]

No way.  It's Creed for sure.  You hate them because they are trying too damn hard to be U2 and you want to punch Scott Stapp in the face, but truthfully he could probably kick your ass, and when no one is looking, you do sing along to their music. 

[La Bodysnatcher]

Of course the Web wasn't Nirvana. It's obviously Pearl Jam.

 

No good, too soon?

Even if the Web isn't Nirvana, it sure is an Oasis!

[FutureOfToday]

Yeah... it was funny the first time. And Oasis wasn't a grunge band.

[zEVerzan]

Very interesting read.
 
Introducing a 27-year-old Computer to the Internet