|
Technology doesn't flow smoothly: it's the
big surprises that matter, and Yale computer expert David
Gelernter sees one such giant leap right on the horizon.
Today's small scale leap right on the horizon. Today's small
scale software programs are about to be joined by vast public
software works that will revolutionize computing and transform
society as a whole. One such program is the "Mirror
World."
Imagine looking at your computer screen
and seeing reality -- an image of your city, for instance,
complete with moving traffic patterns, or a picture that
sketches the state of an entire far-flung corporation at
this second. These representations are called Mirror Worlds,
and according to Gelernter they will soon be available to
everyone. Mirror Worlds are high-tech voodoo dolls: by interacting
with the images, you interact with reality. Indeed, Mirror
Worlds will revolutionize the use of computers, transforming
them from (mere) handy tools to crystal balls which will
allow us to see the world more vividly and see into
it more deeply. Reality will be replaced gradually, piece-by-piece,
by a software imitation; we will live inside the imitation.
The surprising thing is, this will be a great humanistic
advance. We gain control over our world, plus a huge new
measure of insight and vision.
In this fascinating book -- part speculation,
part explanation -- Gelernter takes us on a tour of the
computer technology of the near future. Mirror Worlds, he
contends, will allow us to explore the world in unprecedented
depth and detail without ever changing out of our pajamas.
A hospital administrator might wander through an entire
medical complex via a desktop computer. Any citizen might
explore the performance of the local schools, chat electronically
with teachers and other Mirror Worlds visitors, plant software
agents to report back on interesting topics, decide to run
for the local school board, hire a campaign manager, and
conduct the better part of the campaign itself -- all by
interacting with the Mirror World.
Gelernter doesn't just speculate about how
this amazing new software will be used -- he shows us how
it will be made, explaining carefully and in detail how
to build a Mirror World using technology already available.
We learn about "disembodied machines," "trellises,"
"ensembles," and other computer components which
sound obscure, but which Gelernter explains using familiar
metaphors and terms. (He tells us that a Mirror World is
a microcosm just like a Japanese garden or a Gothic cathedral,
and that a computer program is translated by the computer
in the same way a symphony is translated by a violinist
into music.)
Mirror Worlds offers a lucid and
humanistic account of the coming software revolution, told
by a computer scientist at the cutting edge of his field.
David Gelernter is Associate Professor
of Computer Science at Yale University and an expert in
programming languages and methods, and in artificial intelligence.
|
