By Gregory J. E. Rawlings
Moths to the Flame is a heady mix of futuristic prophecy and ancient standpoint masking all points of desktop know-how, a few scary, a few useful, a few fanciful. . . . clever lay readers will locate that Rawlins...is lots shrewdpermanent with no being obscurantist. -- Publishers Weekly
In Moths to the Flame , Gregory Rawlins takes us on a funny but thought-provoking journey of the area wrought by way of smooth know-how.
The book's first 4 chapters discover the worlds of privateness, digital truth, publishing, and laptop networks, whereas the final 4 specialize in social matters reminiscent of struggle, jobs, desktop catastrophes, and the destiny itself. all through, eye-opening old comparisons provide a context for the pc age, exhibiting how new applied sciences have constantly bred desire and resistance. Provocative but balanced and complicated, Moths to the Flame is an essential guidebook to the longer term.
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Extra info for Moths to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology
Sample text
Thinking Machines It is a curious fact that in America, a supposedly highly literate nation, a hardcover book is one of the year’s top twenty-five bestsellers if it manages to sell only 115 thousand copies—enough for about one-twentieth of 1 percent of the population. Gone With the Wind has sold 21 million Thinking Machines 51 copies over forty years, but 55 million people saw the first half of the movie on television in one evening. Roots has sold 5 million copies over eight years, but 130 million people watched the television version.
He waves Jeeves to silence. ” Twoyear-old Jeeves is already getting quite persnickety. When he first bought the program, it was as bland as American cheese. But as it found a 42 Chapter 2. —was rapidly becoming an aged Gruy`ere. “Please send the news to Library for integration and summarize the calls and mail to one sentence descriptors. ” Jeeves, managing to look both pleased and miffed, nods and obligingly vanishes. Sighing, the man wonders just how Jeeves spends its computer time when it doesn’t have to service his requests—which is most of the time.
Soon, millions of us will be able to alter any picture, seamlessly. And that has all kinds of consequences. Refractions Through a Computer Screen Producing realistic but fake video today takes lots of money. However, the technology is advancing briskly, the price is dropping rapidly, and the potential rewards are increasing enormously. By decade’s end, fake video will be indistinguishable from the real thing. It’s only a question of money. 26 Chapter 2. Infinite in All Directions The film industry, for example, driven by the demand for ever more spectacular special effects, is moving rapidly toward all-electronic movie production.