Book details of 'Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology'

Title	Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology
Author(s)	Gregory J. E. Rawlins
ISBN	0262681021
Language	English
Published	July 1998
Publisher	MIT Press

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Amazon.com info for Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology

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virtualbookcase.com score: 5.0   Vote for this book

The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology':

Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
Gregory Rawlins has a gift for explaining complex things in ways that not only make them crystal clear but also delightfully funny. He can explain, for example, the challenges of computer programming in terms of trying to get a "Napoleonic army of idiots" to invade Russia. And in just such a way he evolves a picture of what future computers might mean to society by taking the reader point by point through cyberhistory, science, and mechanics. Are we truly in danger of becoming subservient to our machines? Maybe, says Rawlins. This is no alarmist book, nor even an anti-computer book. It's an extremely sensible look at past and present reality with an equally sensible willingness to stay alert for future surprises. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
What we have here seems to be a fairly erudite version of the Time- Life guide to computers, only without the pictures. As such, the reader could be forgiven for wondering what the title has to do with the book. The explanation appears to lie in Rawlins' persistent insistence on the danger of computers. While potentially thought- provoking, the lack of backup and analysis makes it merely annoying. Chapter one attempts to define what a computer is. It outlines some of the work of Babbage and Turing. (Ironically, although a major thesis of this section is the idea of the universal tool nature of computers, the description of the universality of Turing machines is rather weak.) Ultimately, however, the flailing words and ideas fail to portray either an accurate or a useful picture: the bald assertion that computers manipulate ideas might was well stand alone. The description of the inner workings of computers, in chapter two, is somewhat better. Somewhat, but not entirely: a current is a stream of electrons only within the confines of a cathode ray tube, and Rawlins explanation of the progress from switches to computers stops just when it is getting interesting (and important). And, having extended Moore's Law far beyond its intended life, he ends by telling us that computers are going to take over, for no particular reason. There appears to be an attempt to explain programs in chapter three. While a few salient points are made about precision and atomicity, whole concepts such as the importance of sequence and timing are left out. Parts of chapter four might be about programming. Then again, chapter four might simply be a reprise of miscellaneous ideas from the first three chapters. Rawlins must really love paradoxes since chapter five contains its own. Starting out by touching on the idea of computability (but never quite getting there) it finishes by telling us that future programs are going to be intuitive--which, if it isn't non-computable is certainly non-programmable at the moment. Chapter six finishes off the book by trying to convince us, on rather religious grounds, that artificial intelligence is our worst nightmare. In attempting to teach about computers in general, the book uses some interesting and unusual analogies, but isn't really terribly clear. It isn't very complete either, and anyone who did succeed in following the tutorial would likely come away with a somewhat skewed idea about information technology. The constant harping on the dangers of technology is eminently forgettable, since it has neither the evidentiary background of "Computer Related Risks" (see reviews) or the insight and clarity of "Digital Woes" . copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998
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Book description:

"[H]ere's something completely different: a computer book for smart people--folks who may not know much about PC's but who don't enjoy being talked down to, either. . . . It's an elegant, thought-provoking little book, full of literary references and history." -- John Schwartz, Washington Post In Moths to the Flame, Gregory J. E. Rawlins took lay readers on a tour of the exciting and sometimes scary world to which computers are leading us. This new book is for those who are new to computers and want to know what is "under the hood." It shows what computers can do for us and to us. It tells the story of how we became slaves to our machines and how our machines may one day become slaves to us. Written in an accessible, anecdotal form, Slaves of the Machine presents the birth of the computer, charts its evolution, and envisions its development over the next fifty years. More information is available at our book-of-the-month site.