Module Ten

            The short story, A Logic Named Joe, was a difficult read for me.  I had to read the story twice in order to really grasp what the author was trying to say.  I am not sure if it was because of the grammatical text that was written as if the character was from a different region of the world and had an accent or if I was trying to make too much of the story.  I did, however, find it very interesting especially since it was written in 1946.  The author’s visions of what the computer would be or is capable of was astounding and his foresight was amazing.  He was able to accurately predict what the computer would be capable of in several instances and I found it quite intriguing.  If a person did not know which year this short story was written in, it is possible that it could have been written in the present day. 

            I found the authors choice words in which to name the computer confusing at first, but after analyzing what the author was saying it began to fit in place.  The personal computer’s name was “logic” and what I know to be the tower of a computer was called the “tank.”  The tower is the vessel in which information is stored and shared by the user of the computer system.  A person would ask “logic” a question and information would be relayed back to them just as it does today on the web.  In my opinion Google.com would fit as the information web site this portion of the story is referring to and the amount of data that is able to be accessed on a particular subject.  The possibilities are endless now days as far as the information that is available on the internet and this is referenced in his story.

            The author knew that one day parental controls would have to be incorporated into the system to protect children from having access to risky material.  This also has come to fruition.  There are so many sites that are on the internet that do pose a serious risk to our children and parental controls have been a huge tool in preventing accidental harm.  There are also references to web sites telling a person how to murder their wife or how to sober a person up after a night of binging on alcohol.  These sites currently exist and many more information sites that provide assistance to individuals seeking help in avoiding consequences of risky behavior such as testing dirty on a urinalysis test.  The information available for many subjects on the web is seemingly endless.  You can get almost any question answered that you are in need of. 

            The other fact I found interesting and has come to light is that all of our personal information is readily available for anyone to view.  Our lives are on the web and an inquiring person can locate whatever they would like to about a particular person.  This is the part of the computer that is frightening to me.  So much of our lives are no longer private and something that we can hide from other individuals.  Computers have opened a door that has allowed everyone access to the personal lives everyone around us.    

            The part of the story that has not come to fruition, in my opinion, is that of people being able to connect to another person by video conferencing at a request of a user.  I do, however, believe that this is possible in the near future.  Most computers are equipped with a video camera or one is readily available for purchase to attach to your computer.  This allows a person with the properly equipped computer to contact another person with the same capabilities using the program called Skype.  This is a video conferencing program that allows individuals to contact others via their computer and actually see them on their computer screen.  It is the next best thing to actually being there with the person. 

            The author’s reference to a single computer developing the abilities to connect to other computers and updating its knowledge and developing ideas that the human race has not thought of is still not possible.  The author spoke of removing that one offending computer and hiding it in a basement to prevent it from taking over is still a fantasy.  There may be a time that this may happen, but to date computers are not capable of bypassing their own programming and making cognitive decisions.  The idea that one day the world will be taken over by rogue robots that have the capability to learn and grow have been depicted in many movies and in my opinion this still may be possible. 

            The author also referenced that if computers were removed from the world that we could no longer function as a society.  I believe that this fact is very true.  The world has become reliant upon computers and their programs to run our daily lives.  The advancements that have been made using computers is simply amazing.  We are able to communicate world-wide with various individuals to conduct business in a way that was never possible.  Having recently experienced a system crash with the computers at work, I experienced the reliance on computers first-hand.  I was not capable to completing my daily tasks without the computer.  Most of what I do in a day’s work is on the computer and a large portion of what is done is stored on the computer.  I found it very frustrating not to be able to have my computer to complete my required work.  I do believe that the human race would be lost without computers.  They have become our life line and a source for completing daily tasks.  I believe that the human race is addicted to the internet and the freedoms that it allows in our daily lives.

            The short story was a difficult read, but the foresight of the author and the computer’s capabilities is truly amazing.  The author was one that thought outside the box and could see the possibilities associated with the computer.  The human race has become extremely reliant upon computers for their programming capabilities and the use of the internet for information at our finger tips.