When Things Start to Think By Neil Gershenfeld Alex Sullivan

Neil Gershenfeld MIT Professor Director of The Center for Atoms and Bits (formally media lab) Works with physics and computer technology

Book Overview ©1999 Autobiography Experiences and knowledge of Neil Gershenfeld Book is broken into three sections of when, why, and how technology progresses

Book Examples Household items like coffee cups with computer chips to learn when people will want to use appliances or how they like coffee Electronic Inks that can make the pages of digital books transform Gershenfeld helped to create first ever electrical basoon music intrument for artist Yo-Yo Ma Futuristic Technology

People are computerizing themselves Self computers that are wearable and often worn with computer like visors on the head Could change how memory works “his memory is augmented by the accumulated data in his system. By storing and analyzing what he writes, and sees, and hears, the computer can help him recall when he last met someone, what they spoke about, and what he knows about him or her.” -Gershenfeld Book Examples

Current Ideas Cellular Autonomy- Process of computers using a system of transfering molecules in patterns to help the relay of information, therefore making if faster and simpler for computers to come up with answers Quantum Computers- would no longer use binary code, but quantum formulas. The computers would fix problems and solve questions with little effort. The FBI and CIA have been trying to create a quantum computer Book Examples

Gershenfeld’s Beliefs Students in highly specific majors are key to future advancements Communication skills are essential to modern scientist Society will learn by, “manipulating, not observing” –Gershenfeld Its only a matter of time before technology will be able to think Technology will continue to get smaller and have more uses Book Examples

Connections to Class Exemplifies the future possibilities of “Living in a Network World” The future perspectives builds off some of modern technologies in the current world In the future many things could be different in the networked world. From crime, to protection, and to privacy