Overview

"The primary thesis of this book lies in the authors belief that the emergence of computers as an elemental force in our modern society must be viewed with sceptical - and sometimes negative - eye. Crandall and Levich, one a mathematician and scientist, the other a philosopher and proponent of the liberal arts, strive, however, to present a balanced viewpoint of both sides of this phenomenon, investigating and reflecting on the good and bad sides of this revolution, and seek meaning in this ""Information Age."" Their examination is performed in a manner divested of journalistic hyperbole, the incantations of self-serving oracular futurists, and the sales pitches of the software and hardware industries. This book explores those topics which constitute the underpinnings of the ""Information Age"", and asks two questions: 1.) Is the software, and hardware, of which our computers are made, capable of doing everything their enthusiasts would have us believe they can do?, and 2.) Will advances in these technologies be beneficial to the society in which they have become such an integral part? In separating the wheat from the chaff, the authors' goal is to provide readers with a much better understanding of the limitations of these new technologies, along with propositions for better use and implementation of them within the societal context."

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Crandall ,  H. Rheingold ,  Marvin Levich
Publisher:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Imprint:   Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
Edition:   1998 ed.
Dimensions:   Width: 16.30cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.400kg
ISBN:  

9780387946474

ISBN 10:   0387946470
Pages:   130
Publication Date:   08 June 1998
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

1 A Conspiracy Of Parts.- • Doubly flawed anatomical design.- • Computer technology as a product of world war.- • The brilliance of John von Neumann.- • When there was one transistor per person.- • A game of leapfrog.- • The “cotasking” of biological systems.- • Neural networks and genetic algorithms.- • The promise of nanotechnology.- • Quantum computation.- • The fate of the conspiracy.- 2 Toward A Theory Of Machine Consciousness.- • The boondoggle of artificial intelligence.- • Double obfuscation.- • Extreme difficulty.- • Progress in AI.- • Input starvation.- • Output modes: expert systems and intelligent agents.- • The mysterious “Gedankenexperiment”.- • A theory of machine consciousness.- 3 Multimedia: Mélange Obscur.- • A night at the opera.- • The meaning of media.- • Visual data.- • Audio data.- • Text still suffers.- • Ink as data medium.- • Teleconferencing as canonical testbed.- • A scenario for unified multimedia.- • Scientific visualization and the demolition of science.- 4 A Network Orange.- • Unpredictability.- • Oracles and actors.- • The BBS as canonical educational testbed.- • Language mangling.- • The emergence of the World Wide Web.- • On the issue of network responsibility.- 5 Virtual Reality, And All That.- • What does virtual really mean?.- • VR implementations.- • The fascination with VR.- • From little reality to big reality.- • Simulating from the vacuum.- • Maps, models, and immersion.- • The Holy Grail.- • GVR.- 6 Education Be Not Automatic.- • Education pursuant to technology.- • What education is and what it is not.- • Incremental revolutions.- • Enriching the curriculum with the computer.- • Computer technology and liberal education.- •How not to teach writing.- • From words to pictures.- • The Scottish Verdict: not proven.

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions