Too Soon To Tell Essays for the End of The Computer Revolution

by Grier, David A.

• ISBN13: 9780470080351
• ISBN10: 0470080353
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-12
• Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr

Summary

Based on author David A. Grier's column "In Our Time," which runs monthly in Computer magazine, Too Soon To Tell presents a collection of essays skillfully written about the computer age, an era that began February 1946. Examining ideas that are both contemporary and timeless, these chronological essays examine the revolutionary nature of the computer, the relation between machines and human institutions, and the connections between fathers and sons to provide general readers with a picture of a specific technology that attempted to rebuild human institutions in its own image.

Author Biography

David Alan Grier writes the "In Our Time" column for Computer magazine and is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. His first book, When Computers Were Human, won favorable reviews on NPR's Marketplace?and in Nature and Discover. Grier writes across a wide variety of genres, including general news pieces for the Washington Post, children's articles, and academic pieces for American Mathematical Monthly and the Communications of the ACM.

Table of Contents

Preface: To Have Been Young in that Hour	p. ix
The Computer Era (1946-1973)
Out of Position	p. 3
Seymour Cray's Cat	p. 7
Songs of Comfort and Joy	p. 11
Life on the Frontier	p. 17
Museum Pieces	p. 21
The Curve of Innovation	p. 23
Public Image	p. 29
The Enduring Myth of Hardware	p. 31
Choosing Our Way	p. 37
Friend of the Band	p. 39
Family Portrait	p. 43
The Age of Information (1974-1987)
Coming of Age	p. 49
Riding with Bohannon	p. 55
The Language of Bad Love	p. 57
Common Knowledge	p. 63
Conflict-Free Memories	p. 65
On the Right Side of the Road	p. 71
Fork in the Path	p. 77
The Best Deal in Town	p. 83
Crossing the Divide	p. 89
Auditions	p. 95
Annie and the Boys	p. 99
Mergers and Divestitures	p. 107
Old Bottles	p. 111
The Days of Cyberspace: (1986-2007)
Alley Life	p. 117
On the Camino Real	p. 123
Dirty Electricity	p. 129
Because We Were Different	p. 135
A Winter of Hope and A Spring of Despair	p. 141
Coming into the Country	p. 147
Outposts	p. 151
The Captured Imagination	p. 157
Shutdown	p. 161
Force of Nature	p. 167
Ever Onward! Thanks for Asking!	p. 173
Emailing from Armenia	p. 177
The Boundaries of Time	p. 183
Counting Beans	p. 189
The Eyes of the World	p. 195
The Lay of the Land	p. 199
Circle of Light	p. 203
Beyond the Horizon	p. 205
Epilogue: Indicator Lamps	p. 209
Disclaimers, References and Notes	p. 213
Index	p. 235
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.