“If you are an old-time computer guy (specializing in programming languages or AI), you’ll find this video both amusing and amazing. It supports my belief that we’ve gone backwards since about 1980 [with regards to] computer technology.”
This has also been an observation of mine. Somewhere along the way, programmers decided to divert the general direction of computing as a whole and all chose the same easy paths that have lead us to the accepted technological dogma of today.
“I fear the day technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”
– Albert Einstein
The quote is often linked to Albert Einstein. Einstein did say, “It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity,” when he was questioned about the atomic bomb. (source: 2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. (Verified on paper)
Here’s a good read, by Ruby on Rails developer Simon Hørup Eskildsen, on how liberating it is to disconnect from the time-eating temptations of having a smartphone:
“A few spare minutes would usually result in checking my email, Twitter and Facebook. I was a little bit everywhere, all the time. But not truly anywhere. Without the temptation available from my pocket, I feel like I am more present being wherever I am.”
