Big [and not so big] ideas for 2003 (CIO Magazine) [LWN.net]

CIO Magazine has published a special issue on 48 ideas which, it is claimed, will change the shape of business in 2003. Number 16 is Linux. "In retail, and likely in other industries that deploy thousands of PCs as terminals, a big wave of open-source pilots will occur in 2003, followed by deployment in 2004..." (Number 26 is Ogg Vorbis, and number 34 is about software patent problems).

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Big [and not so big] ideas for 2003 (CIO Magazine)

Posted Jan 3, 2003 15:58 UTC (Fri) by stijn (subscriber, #570) [Link]

Idea nr. 4 is particularly funny. It is difficult to find the words to describe this hokum other than by giving a long quote. Nothing less than a fundamental new approach to computer science. The proud inventor should hook up with Stephen Wolfram, but now I am probably discrediting both of them in different respects.

[...] Jaron Lanier, the man who gave us the term virtual reality and was instrumental in developing the first virtual reality glove so that people could touch the digital universe, is only too happy to talk about what he thinks is coming in 2003.
"The thing I'm interested in now is a high-risk, speculative, fundamental new approach to computer science. I call it phenotropics," says the 42-year-old Lanier. By pheno, he means the physical appearance of something, and by tropics, he means interaction. Lanier's idea is to create a new way to tie two pieces of software together. He theorizes that two software objects should contact each other "like two objects in nature," instead of through specific modules or predetermined points of contact. With this type of protocol, there would be no previous agreement or expectation regarding the character of the exchange. Each software object would be responsible for "learning" how to interact with the other.

Big [and not so big] ideas for 2003 (CIO Magazine)

Posted Jan 3, 2003 23:07 UTC (Fri) by Peter (guest, #1127) [Link]

Idea nr. 4 is particularly funny.

How about this quote from number 14? The object of her affection was an arcane branch of computer science. "As an undergrad, I fell in love with the efficient algorithm," Henzinger says enthusiastically. So let me get this straight - complexity theory is now considered an "arcane branch" of computer science? That's like saying calculus is an "arcane branch" of mathematics.

Back on [your] topic, notice how the text of no. 4 does not really correspond to Jaron Lanier's, umm, interesting description of "phenotropics". The text, instead, seems to be all about standardising on interfaces rather than applications. Which is very old news, at least outside the 100%-Microsoft shops.