Science A precise description of the future by Arthur C. Clarke

[Bibi Uncle]

I saw this video and I absolutly wanted to share it with you. It is a footage of Arthur C. Clarke, author, as probably a lot of you knows, of 2001: A Space Odyssey and other great science-fiction novels. It was shot in 1974. Mr. Clarke predicted very accurately how the computer would enhance our living. He almost told the famous quotation of Bill Gates: "A computer on every desk, in every home", before Mr. Gates even said it.

Arthur C. Clarke is probably one of the best visionary of the 20th century.

 

[ED_4]

Who's to say that Bill Gates didn't get that phrase and idea from Clarke himself? Just because he's a businessman and entrepreneur don't mean that he's all ignorant of sci-fi stories and the like. Geeks tend to know a lot on sci-fi you know. :lol:

And we all know Bill Gates is one of them.:thumbup:

 

[FADEC]

I think it wasn't really hard to predict that computers will be small and available to literally everybody in about 30 years back then. At least not for people who knew about computers and their capabilities.

One also has to be careful with quotations. The famous "640k memory" quote for example is famous but not a quote. Bill Gates always refuses to confirm that quote and there are also no real sources. I think that people like Gates were rather aware of how computers will evolve in future. He didn't need to adopt predictions from others.

 

[TMac3000]

Wow, that guy was amazing
We miss you, Arthur

 

[martins]

I had the good fortune a long time ago to see Arthur C Clarke give a keynote address at a conference I attended. The session he was speaking in was on optical SETI, which happened to run parallel to the sessions I was attending. But like everybody else at the conference I squeezed into the overflowing auditorium to see him.

I also listened to a few of the SETI talks in the session, but I remember it all being quite speculative talk about von Neumann probes and the like. I had the impression that the discussion was mostly of a philosophic rather than scientific nature, but it was a fun break from the rest of the conference.

 

[Linguofreak]

I think it wasn't really hard to predict that computers will be small and available to literally everybody in about 30 years back then. At least not for people who knew about computers and their capabilities.

Note, though, that what Clark predicted here was that everybody would have a terminal to their "friendly local computer", which is actually one of the common mispredictions made in that era. The thought was that you'd have a few very expensive mainframes or minicomputers per city and that people would sign up for accounts on them and dial into them from a terminal at home.

One also has to be careful with quotations. The famous "640k memory" quote for example is famous but not a quote. Bill Gates always refuses to confirm that quote and there are also no real sources. I think that people like Gates were rather aware of how computers will evolve in future. He didn't need to adopt predictions from others.

Also, Gates, not being on the IBM Model 5150 design team, wouldn't really have been in a position to make any decisions about the 640k conventional memory limit. (And, in fact, conventional memory could go to 704 or 736k if only text mode graphics were used).

EDIT: Does anyone else find that Clarke's accent sounds surprisingly American (Given that he was, in fact, British)?

 

[Bibi Uncle]

Wow Martin! You're so lucky having see Mr. Clarke! I'm such a great fan of his books.

Maybe a did not use the right word in my description. It is not a quotation, but a dream. But I'm pretty sure he said it in a conference. As Steve Ballmer said:

 

[Ghostrider]

Note, though, that what Clark predicted here was that everybody would have a terminal to their "friendly local computer", which is actually one of the common mispredictions made in that era.

And in 1974 it wasn't even a new concept. Remember Asimov's MultiVAC stories? There were terminals available to the general public (albeit kinda expensive) with one used in "Anniversary" (1959) to "google" information instrumental to the characters' quest.