When Things Start to Think (Hardcover)

by Neil Gershenfeld (Author) "To a species that seeks to communicate, offering instantaneous global connectivity is like wiring the pleasure center of a rat's brain to a bar that..." (more)
Key Phrases: digital evolution, electronic ink, movable metal type, Media Lab, United States, Vannevar Bush (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
A computer in your shoe? Maybe so. Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Media Lab, joins the ranks of techno-prognosticators with When Things Start to Think, and his focus is on how the future of computing will fit into our physical realities. This sensorial focus allows Gershenfeld to explore such science fictional ideas as wearable computers, nanotech circuitry implants, as well as such concerns as emotions, money, and civil rights in the new age of artificial intelligence. Gershenfeld provides a historical overview of the development of computers and extrapolates a world in which we will be forced to deal with things that think all the time. This can't help but reshape our society in ways we must try to imagine. You may be surprised at how far along this road we are--Gershenfeld is in exactly the right place to tell this story, and it's a whole lot of fun (and a little scary) to ride this wave with him. --Adam Fisher

From Publishers Weekly
At MIT's Media Lab, the researchers and students already live in the future. Gershenfeld, director of the Physics and Media Group and co-director of the Things That Think consortium at the Media Lab, offers a user-friendly tour of that present future. There, "smart paper" is recycled by your printer and the coffee pot recognizes your cup and serves up your preference. Gershenfeld's sympathies are with those who feel they are the servants of computers rather than the other way around. His answer to a recent report of a man who shot his crashed PC (four times in the hard drive and once in the monitor) is to give computers the ability to sense and respond to their environments. At a recent fashion show, he reports, MIT grad students modeled jackets outfitted with very personal computers that are powered by natural movement and can play music, or change the appearance of the fabric from solid to pinstripe. So why do the rest of us have to settle for staring at the screens of our blind, dumb and deaf PCs? Gershenfeld makes a strong case that compartmentalization and secrecy in education, research and industry has brought us to an impasse that can be overcome only by creative chaos and openness. Especially for techno-phobes, Gershenfeld's easy style and light use of technical terms makes his book a fun and tantalizing glimpse into the world to come. Illustrations.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (January 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805058745
• ISBN-13: 978-0805058741
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,101,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable view of the future - a true irony!, February 26, 1999

By	Geoffrey J. Clapp (Sunnyvale, CA.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When things start to think is one of the better, if not best, future-of-the-industry books of the past 12 months. First, it lacks the ego-centric writing that is the commonplace of MIT texts, which is refreshing. All too often the books coming out of MIT seem to be a self proclamation of value - "Hey, I'm important and cool, and so is my work". Gersenfeld, on the other hand, let's his work do the talking. He openly questions the appropriateness of some of his projects, and shows a

real-world appreciation of what it means to bring product to market with his "1 dollar rule" for additive technology. With the exception of a few chapters at the end of the book, it is highly readable for all people of all professions, and is a refreshing new way of approaching old issues. It also reads at times like a collection of essays, so while you will want to read it in a linear fashion, it is easy to pick up, read, put down, and pick up again. You'll find yourself wanting to do that again and again, allowing your own ideas to digest and grow.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars MIT MIT MIT, December 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: When Things Start to Think (Paperback)

This book does not fulfill the promise of its title, in a rambling, sometimes interesting, mostly self-serving view of the author's work and that of his colleagues at one of the world's premier labs. Lacking clear structure or drama, the book suffers further from poor writing and editing. If you're from MIT, every sentence probably makes sense -- it often sounds as if it were transcribed from a small group seminar. Instead of focusing on clarity for those outside of the tight jargon, it uses a loose, concept-by-implication presentation style with enough fuzziness to dazzle the innocent. Perhaps that explains the over-glowing reviews.

How many things think in Gershenfeld's tapestry? Not many, but I can't find them quickly again, either from memory or index.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When DESIGNERS Start To Think, November 19, 2004

By	Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: When Things Start to Think (Paperback)

This isn't a book about "things" starting to think, or even computers starting to think. It's about different ways to integrate computing power into our lives so the distinction about "what is a computer" starts to blur.

Wearable computers, smart coffepots, tennis shoes with CPUs, all of these are ideas which have become much more accepted (and real) in the 5 years since this book was published.

There are two directions computing can grow in the future -- automating tasks we already do (like the above) or, more promisingly, creating new tasks which take advantage of the advantages of computing power. Gershenfeld barely touches on the latter, even though examples are all around us (like the internet). Futurists working on films like Blade Runner, Demolition Man and Minority Report have had more to say. It is only when computing power starts to change the way we live our lives -- for better or worse -- that the true digital revolution will occur.

And it probably will be televised.