At 08:17 PM 2/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
><People try, but the age of hacking is gone. Right now, there is just
><nothing exciting in the computing industry. Wait till holographic
>
>You got to be kidding. Just look around the edges at things like
>autonomus robots and navagation to suggest a few. Theres plenty to be
And there is plenty of opportunity in terms of software -- new uses for the
internet connectivity is a big one. CUSeeMe, for example and the internet
phone stuff... These are things that make me envision some guy, surrounded
by empty coke bottles, about 3 in the morning thinking, "Hey, if I can send
data over voice lines, why can't I send voice over data lines?" and such.
Also, how about purpose-built devices? Wanna buy a dedicated alphapaging
station so you're grandmother (who keeps pointing her calculator at the
Microwave and trying to change the channel) can just turn it on, type a
message (See, grandma, it's just like a typewriter!) and hit a send button
to send you an alphapage? Probably can't do it affordably. But take a
Basic Stamp, add a keyboard and a little LCD screen, some code, and voila...
Speaking whihc, has anyone else ever read Heinlein's book (whose name I've
forgotten) about the inventor whose partners steal everything and freeze
him for 20 years etc? One of the things he invents is an automated vacuum
cleaner. When Heinlein wrote the book, I'm sure that would have been very
expensive and very difficult to do. Now, however, it would seem like an
acheivable goal, especially since Heinlein does a lot of the specs for
you... So how come you can't buy one at Target? Anyone want to make millions?
(That book, btw, is what made me want to be an EE (along with Steve Ciarcia
calling it "programming in solder"). Perhaps someday I'll finally get to
become one...)
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Received on Thu Feb 12 1998 - 21:06:15 GMT