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TECH PRACTICUM

TECH PRACTICUM. Dr. Hugh Blanton ENTC 4600. There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about!. Many predictions made in the past have proved to be dramatically wrong ... ...even when made by experts with impeccable credentials. Famous Quotations. Airplane.

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TECH PRACTICUM

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  1. TECH PRACTICUM Dr. Hugh Blanton ENTC 4600

  2. Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 2 / 30

  3. There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about! Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 3 / 30

  4. Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 4 / 30

  5. Many predictions made in the past have proved to be dramatically wrong ... ...even when made by experts with impeccable credentials... Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 5 / 30

  6. Famous Quotations

  7. Airplane “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible” • Lord Kelvin famous physicists, 1897 • 1903: Wright traveled 37 m • today: booming industry Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 7 / 30

  8. Telephone (1) “Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit voice over wires and that, were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value” • Boston Post editorial, 1865 • 1896: Bell got the first patent • today: booming industry Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 8 / 30

  9. Telephone (2) “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communications” • Western Union (leading telegraph company), an internal memo, 1896 • 1896: Bell got the first patent • 1998: >~750 M telephone lines, or ~13 lines / 100 inhabitants world average (source: ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 1998) Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 9 / 30

  10. Computers (in general) “ I think there’s a world market for, maybe, 5 computers” • Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943 • 1998: >~750 M telephone lines, or ~13 lines / 100 inhabitants world average (source: ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 1998) Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 10 / 30

  11. Personal computers (1) • I “didn’t see anything useful” in building home computers • Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, rejecting a 1970s proposal for a home computer Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 11 / 30

  12. Personal computers (2) “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home” • Ken Olsen, Founder & President of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977 • 1998: ~234 M PCs, or ~4 PCs / 100 inhabitants world average (source: ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 1998) Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 12 / 30

  13. Cinema “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” • H.M. Warner, famous film maker), 1927 • 1927: first talking picture • today: booming industry Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 13 / 30

  14. Radio “Radio has no future” • Lord Kelvin, famous physicists, 1897 • 1896: Marconi - 1st transmission at 1.6 km distance Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 14 / 30

  15. “Prediction is difficult - especially of the future” - Storm Petersen, Danish humorist Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 15 / 30

  16. Every year a number of young people enter the University, each carrying a small portion of knowledge. • These portions are accumulated there during the years of studying. • That is the reason why the University became the center of knowledge. • After Bernard Shaw Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 16 / 30

  17. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. • Clarke's First Law Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 17 / 30

  18. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is by venturing a little way past them into the impossible. • Clarke's Second Law Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 18 / 30

  19. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. • Clarke's Third Law • Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. • Gregory Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Third law: Dr. Blanton - ENTC 4307 - Introduction 19 / 30

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