Back in the 1940's ENIAC, a huge vacuum tubed beast, ruled the computing roost in dealing with the mathematical intricacies of the H Bomb. Said system weighed 30 tons, needed rebooting every 1-2 days and consumed 150 KW of electricity. Needless to say, it was unique and never duplicated. In 1955, it was decommissioned.
On December 23, 1947 the acceleration of digital tech began in earnest when John Bardeen invented the transistor. In the 1970's, VLSI raised the ante by miniaturizing and combining thousands to millions of transistors into a chip, thus enabling the Intels of the world to change how society does business.
Today, Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) are transforming tech yet again by endowing systems with capabilities that are only beginning to be understood in terms of how they will impact society. Stop to consider the following:(A partial list to be sure)1. Biotech - The quest for immortality
2. Robotics - I Robot and the implications it has for mankind
3. Water Desalinization - Something needed NOW.
4. Renewable Energy - The Long Emergency/hopefully NOT.
5. The Environment - Global Warming/hopefully not too late.
6. Food Production - Frankenfoods anyone?
7. Quantum Computing - Beyond computation
8. Hacking Matter - The new alchemy
9. Military - Murder by numbers/The first Star Trek had that covered.
10. Politics - Ramifications of tech beyond the kin of most politicians
11. Democracy - Privacy is gone, the end game today - THE RIGHT TO BE LEFT ALONE /David Brin
12. The Singularity - Can we handle the change that's coming?
"There is something out there, What is it I'm not exactly clear." Buffalo Springfield
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