On Vannevar Bush: His concept of the walnut-sized camera that is able to take tiny photographs (100 at a time) is silly to think about today. A camera within a cellphone has a greater capacity than what he describes. It's amazing to marvel on the technology that we have on our fingertips today. His greatest concept, of the "memex" is brilliant not only because of how well he articulates and explains the device, but for realizing the importance of remembering the history of searches. This feature, which allows the user to recall past lists or search history, essentially recalls the user's train of thought. It is this feature that makes the "memex" not just a functioning library of one's life, but also a wealth of nostalgia within itself.
On Alan Turing: A thinking computer is a concept that worries me, but to Turing, it's an achievable goal. The way he has imagined a computer is one that is able to discern man from woman, or can play games and solve riddles. The idea of a machine that is capable of real thought, raises many ethical questions. Turing doesn't mention any of them - and also fails to address the consequences of a human mistaking a computer for another living being.
On Norbert Wiener: Wiener raises a strong point when he says "we realize we cannot worship the gadget and sacrifice the human being to it, but a situation is easily possible in which we may incur a disaster." He says we should be able to step away from the machine/gadget and enjoy our leisure time. Otherwise, we can easily become overpowered by and succumb to machines who have grown much greater and smarter than us.
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