When Things Start to Think 1st Edition

by Neil Gershenfeld (Author)

17 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0805058741

ISBN-10: 0805058745

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This is a book for people who want to know what the future is going to look like and for people who want to know how to create the future. Gershenfeld offers a glimpse at the brave new post-computerized world, where microchips work for us instead of against us. He argues that we waste the potential of the microchip when we confine it to a box on our desk: the real electronic revolution will come when computers have all but disappeared into the walls around us. Imagine a digital book that looks like a traditional book printed on paper and is pleasant to read in bed but has all the mutability of a screen display. How about a personal fabricator that can organize digitized atoms into anything you want, or a musical keyboard that can be woven into a denim jacket? Gershenfeld tells the story of his Things that Think group at MIT's Media Lab, the group of innovative scientists and researchers dedicated to integrating digital technology into the fabric of our lives.

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: 225 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (January 12, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805058745
ISBN-13: 978-0805058741
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.9 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 17 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,477,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1492 in Social Aspects of Technology
- #461 in Digital Design (Books)
- #501 in Artificial Intelligence (Books)

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Dave Kinnear

Bossy Refridgerators?

April 5, 2000

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

An excellent book for the layperson to understand where computing is headed and where the lines between life sciences and technology blur. Gershenfeld makes it easy to understand how our lives will be affected by the incredible advances we are making in all fields of science. This book belongs on the shelf right along side Kurzweil, Norman and Metcalfe. It will round out our comprehension of the future, both near and farther out on the horizon. I learned about PEM three-dimensional printers and how they will help us model our ideas. I learned about the all too easy use of buzzwords such as "fuzzy logic" to confuse the public into thinking something "new" is happening. I learned a great new definition for religion-"Beliefs about our existence that are not falsifiable have a central place in human experience-they're called religion." And I learned about a great place for students of all backgrounds to work together for fun and maybe even profit-the Media labs at MIT. And I found an answer to a question that has long been bothering me. "Marvin Minsky believes that the study of artificial intelligence failed to live up to its promise, not because of any lack of intelligence in the programs or the programmers, but because of the limited life experience of a computer that can't see, or hear, or move." Anyone with even a hint of questions about the future and what it might hold for us should pick up this book. It is marvelous reading, despite the weight of the subject matter!

9 people found this helpful

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Computers are for people...not the other way around.

October 27, 2001

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The author of this book is clearly of the opinion that the "Digital Revolution" is more of what he calls a 'disinformation campaign'. His arguments are to the effect that computers and gadgets need to be responsive to human needs, this not being the case to this date. Computers should be a suit of clothes a person can wear (literally!!) and not a straightjacket, the author seems to say. We should expect more from computers, and the Digital Revolution should be for people, not computers.
The author is definitely correct in saying this, as computers are still difficult to use for most people. The author's book is an attempt to propose remedies for this state of affairs, and some of these are highly creative, making the book very interesting to read. Some of the more clever ideas include smart paper, wearable computers, and smart money. He also overviews more exotic notions of computation, such as DNA and quantum computation. These ideas and developments are all very exciting, and no doubt most of them will come about....and soon.

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Alessandro Piovaccari

A must read for all IoT technologists.

June 12, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book written at the turn of the millennium represent the jumpstart of IoT. Many great prediction that ended up becoming reality and some less ones. Overall a great source of inspiration and a great trigger for deeper thoughts on the utility and implications in the upcoming realm of pervasive connected device.s

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Troy Nachtigall

Still very relevent

August 20, 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

While many books about technology rapidly become irrelevant, "When Things Start to think" asks questions that remain unanswered 20 years later. The book is inspiring and well written with many arguments for a technological future that doesn't suck.

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M. Ambrose

Admittedly incomplete and profound.

November 17, 2005

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Gershenfeld admits that this book is incomplete. Unless you can be satisfied with an explanation of quantum physics that is a few sentences long, this book is definitely not the be-all and end-all. It might be worth your while just to skip this text and look into his other books "The Nature of Mathematical Modeling" and "The Physics of Information Technology" (I have yet to read these) if you are truly interested in this subject.

On the other hand, I fear for those who may be left satisfied with this book. Gershenfeld seems to think that we can allow machines to think for us. My fear lies in the consequences when (not if) these machines break down. For example, we in the firefighting industry call the lights that indicate the water level in a fire engine "idiot lights" because you are an idiot if you rely on them. Any self-respecting pump operator knows these detection systems fail and that they should be able to calculate water levels for themselves. If we are to rely on the more complicated systems he suggests, it follows that it will be increasingly difficult to compensate for them when they break down. Just look at what happens when cell phones, PC's, and networks break down today.

Gershenfeld should follow this book with "When Things Become Dumb."

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Jermo

Great book for the futurist

October 19, 2015

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Neil never disappoints with his visions of the future. This book was written in 2000 and many of the topics discussed have came to fruition or are on the verge

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Darnell W.

Yes, the future is now!

February 27, 2015

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Yes,the future is now!

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J. Stiehm

Not what I expected

December 8, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The style of writing and the author's extraneous comments about left field topics was off putting. I wonder whether folks who liked it simply ignored its shortcomings.

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When Things Start to Think 1st Edition