Encounters at a 1996 wacky-computer-people conference:
- the veteran --- started working at a weapons lab in 1953; developed and ran pre-FORTRAN era models of hydrogen bombs; told of doing data reduction on decks of punch cards from early tests in the South Pacific; now frail, tired, used a walker to navigate the room; napped in a corner, ignored by all the young hot-shots (and where will they be in a few decades?) ...
- the computer scientist --- seduced away from a PC company to a media conglomerate; felt guilty, but had to abandon work on software development environments for kids, since there was no money to continue the project ...
- the new father (& semi-famous author) --- goofily gregarious in a group, but in private worried that he wasn't "mensch enough" to homeschool his children ...
- the social activist --- talked about bringing computers to disadvantaged high schools (a presentation that was spurned by the majority in favor of video game demos) ...
- the civil servant --- modest and self-effacing, a late-night philosopher who spent most of his time driving visitors around town and managing major procurement contracts, so that others in his labs could do research ...
- the international technologist --- frustrated in attempts to work with the US Government by stupidity and ignorance on the federal side of the table; talked movingly about challenges of Third World technology development, and noted with anger that two thirds of the audience left at the beginning of the session ...
- the millionaire mathematician --- an extreme introvert, almost too shy to introduce himself, but blossomed into quiet talkativeness one-on-one about his research and discoveries ...
... in short, a fine crew of deep, thoughtful, concerned people, worried about important issues.
But far outnumbering them, alas, were flocks of self-promoters whose agenda focused on passing out business cards and making quick spiels, in hopes of attracting money for their ventures ... plus a slightly smaller herd of megalomaniacs, each of whom was sure s/he knew The Answer --- and insisted on explaining it in detail to anyone who was polite enough to listen.
Wednesday, December 20, 2000 at 19:53:48 (EST) = 2000-12-20
TopicProfiles - TopicProgramming
(correlates: MovieReview, HardestPossible, LearningInconsistency, ...)
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