so i was thinking about technology the other day

[God]

and it seems like we've made great strides in computing power but arent really doing anything with it. how many of the best computer science etc graduates are following the big money to work at facebook, apple, microsoft etc to basically develop dumb consumer products instead of working for NASA or doing research in solar power or what have you.

the statement that the cell phone in your pocket has tons more computing power than all the machines that took the US to the moon so often toted as progress, but i mean really, we have all this computing power now that's been redirected to making it faster for rich kids to upload their pictures of 25 dollar cheeseburgers to facebook instead of going things that are actually impressive/potentially beneficial.

i dont know maybe im wrong and the more 'important' technological innovations/adaptations just arent as obvious in society. idk im just rambling rayne what is your opinion am i TOTALLY WRONG?

[Hicky]

I think you're pretty correct, although I think a lot of what just "seems" to be technological growth is just fancier user interface and slightly rising capabilities with no serious progress. Apple and Facebook have become really, really good at manipulating computing to cause a psychological dependence of their products.

[Lord]

follow the computer graduates and you'll end up sitting at a computer, follow the money and you'll end up at the corporations that own those computers

[God]

I think you're pretty correct, although I think a lot of what just "seems" to be technological growth is just fancier user interface and slightly rising capabilities with no serious progress. Apple and Facebook have become really, really good at manipulating computing to cause a psychological dependence of their products.

in terms of raw computing power, how many operations a computer can do per unit of time or whatever, computing has progressed tremendously and continuous to do so at an exponential rate. the thing is all these advances have gone disproportionately towards consumer products. as a result we do have amazingly powerful super computers that can simulate lots of stuff or factor outrageous numbers quickly, but there doesnt seem to be anything truly significant being done with all this.

if with a miniscule percentage of this computing power people were able to LAND ON THE MOON, imagine what could actually be done with what we have now if there were some sort of focused direction. (sponsored by a government perhaps??)

[Kirby]

Unfortunanly God we live in a capitalist economy where discovery and invention < innovation.

[Hicky]

Yeah, there's continuous progress in computing but its mostly just continuously growing efficiency and memory capabilities with no clear direction. I watched some documentary once, the processing speed is growing at a continuous rate or something like that. The reason I mentioned "user interface" is because a lot of the current use of computers resolves around massively simplifying operating systems so they can be used by grannies.

[Kirby]

Also nasa pretty much got all they would ever need out of computers by the 70s, astronomical calculations are aparently cake for today's computers.

[Rayne]

i might respond to this thread. then again, i might not.

[Rayne]

people generally think the only offspring of technological progress is consumer electronic goods because they seem to be the only indicator of said progress but for every computer science graduate who goes to work for google there's one who goes to a lab and works on a research product that spawns the next generation of icraps. the ipad wouldnt have existed without the invention of capacitive multitouch technology. hdtvs wouldnt have existed if they hadnt figured out how to get rid of the cathode tube and instead use plasma screens to increase pixel density. obviously a lot of technological innovations make their way onto consumer electronics because that's where the money is but to think that no other sector is benefitted is naive. the effect of this technological renaissance hasnt just been limited to adorning our homes with cool gizmos; its revolutionised every field of study from molecular biology to mathematical physics. computers have become so ubiquitous and essential that for most researchers, save people like mathematicians, it would be unthinkable to carry on their work bereft of them. would more be accomplished if less people devoted their brainpower to figuring out how to make a cool new smartphone os and instead dedicated it to making better tools to find the CURE FOR AIDS or something? sure. but the dilemma of people using their intellect and skills to make money instead of dedicating them to the BETTERMENT OF HUMANITY has existed since the dawn of civilization and to expect that it'll change now, with so many people ready and willing to dish out cash for the next iproduct or the like, is a utopian wish.

[Rayne]

the issue i have isnt so much that too many resources are being devoted to make consumer electronic goods, but that theyre ending up in the wrong hands - theyre being made to entertain the likes of spoilt westerners with a large amount of disposable income. sites like wikipedia, the largest storehouse of comprehensive information in the history of humanity, is primarily being used by bratty school kids to cheat on their homework when it could instead be used to educate the impoverished populace of third world countries. computers and mobile devices, instead of being relegated to running shitty games like angry birds, could instead be used as tools to uplift downtrodden communities. the internet, instead of being a storehouse for cat pictures, could be established as a global communication tool because at this point it's being used almost exclusively by america and its western butt buddies. there should be more of a conscious effort to technologically develop the various shitholes across the world instead of throwing shiny gadgets at people who have no need for them. i honestly believe that underprivileged sectors of global society can become self sufficient if they were granted access to technology like the web.

[Rayne]

[Seymour]

the issue i have isnt so much that too many resources are being developed to make consumer electronic goods, but that theyre ending up in the wrong hands - theyre being made to entertain the likes of spoilt westerners with a large amount of disposable income. sites like wikipedia, the largest storehouse of comprehensive information in the history of humanity, is primarily being used by bratty school kids to cheat on their homework when it could instead be used to educate the impoverished populace of third world countries. computers and mobile devices, instead of being relegated to running shitty games like angry birds, could instead be used as tools to uplift downtrodden communities. the internet, instead of being a storehouse for cat pictures, could be established as a global communication tool because at this point it's being used almost exclusively by america and its western butt buddies. there should be more of a conscious effort to technologically develop the various shitholes across the world instead of throwing shiny gadgets at people who have no need for them. i honestly believe that underprivileged parts of the world can become self sustaining if they were granted access to technology like the web.

A very educated response. Your take on wikipedia is exactly spot-on, Rayne. I just wish we could move beyond this unnecessary consumerism that butchers technology into a primitive social medium.

[Hicky]

Spoilt Westerners are the worst type of people by far.

[Lord]

i honestly believe that underprivileged sectors of global society can become self sufficient if they were granted access to technology like the web.

this is incredibly naive

[Solly]

I think all the arguments being presented in this thread are incredibly biased, as none of us except rayne have any specialization in computing science (and who disagreed with the presented argument), which means the only spectrum of technology we see repeatedly from day to day is consumer products. This makes it seem like most technological process is being shoved into corporate schemes of planned obsolescence and new user interfaces. But if you take the time to constantly read up on new technologies in the fields of medicine, quantum physics, etc. great leaps are also being made. The search for Higgs's Boson is becoming narrower, computer chips designed like neurons are being created, and a Japanese company recently announced they were preparing to build the space elevator.

[Lord]

rayne doesn't have any specialization in computing science, he's just passionate about technology

[Solly]

he still knows way more shit than anyone else on here regarding it

[Dogar The Brave]

Sexually passionate.

[Lord]

he still knows way more shit than anyone else on here regarding it

he obviously doesn't know how to utilise the knowledge if he makes posts like:

i honestly believe that underprivileged sectors of global society can become self sufficient if they were granted access to technology like the web.

[Lord]

godfuckindamnit i need to go to sleep

[pichubro]

There's no reason to join NASA.

Awaiting the day for privately owned space travel companies.

[Solly]

when I become financially stable I am totally going to fund the artemis project

[Rayne]

this is incredibly naive

you dont play guitar

[Lord]

you dont play guitar

learning paranoid android at the moment, fuckin' time signatures

[buckweat]

i play trombone come at me