Skip to main content

Wetware

Wetware is here, apparently. My husband and I have a long standing debate as to when wetware will hit--both in terms of the technology available and the public's willingness to use it. Wetware is a term in sci-fi for direct interface with technology--wet human brain straight to silicon one--eliminating that annoying gap between brain and fingers. (According to Wikpedia it's also a jokey term FOR the human user already, as in, "Oh, you got yourself a problem with the wetware." Or, "It's not your computer or your software, idiot, it's you.") I think the term has been around since at least the mid-80's (though the concept may predate it--we've always known that to maximize computer use we would need to maximize us) and I've been aware of it since the early 90's. So listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," today one of the questions involved a new system for direct interface to increase the human ability to recognize images--thus allowing police to view surveillance tapes faster and make the connections they need to make (or as the MC joked, "Allowing you to watch 50 hours of YouTube in one day.") So if they are willing to admit it's in development it's probably already in use in the government. I can't find any details in a quick skim of the internet as in how it's plugged in and how far along they are. So it's rapidly becoming clear that the technology is here. The question is who will be willing to have the jack put into their heads.
I think we are rapidly approaching a time when we will have a subcutaneous chip with all of our information and probably our credit on it, and I think that few, maybe not my generation, but certainly the one after which has so willingly been pierced and dyed for fashion, will have any hesitation. Paranoia aside, I probably have no problem with it. My husband has a big problem with it, but he's a) more paranoid than I am, and b) more afraid of needles. But this is not true wetware, as the interface is still computer to computer, chip to reader, only the iPod is in you, not carried in a stylish pack. I think of all the housewives I've waited on in retail who despite voluminous purses have forgotten their frequent buyer cards, but certainly demand their benefits. They may be squeamish at first, but the ease of passing a finger over a reader will overcome their hesitation.
My husband thinks that people (even the pierced and tattooed) will still resist a jack in their heads that links them with their computer. I am amazed that it hasn't been demanded already. As each new generation has more and more choice--more customization of themselves and the products around them, and as technology becomes ever more personal, I think that they will welcome wetware as the NEXT experience. Films in your head, sound direct to the processing centers of the brain without the weak eardrum getting in the way. My only question is, "What comes after?"
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adapting a book--The Prestige

I was completely blown away by the movie of The Prestige , and I thought then about reading the novel, but it seemed too soon. So I carried the author's name around with me for over a year (Christopher Priest) and then, finally remembered to buy it through an odd sequence of events. We watched The Painted Veil based on the novel by Maugham starring Edward Norton, and while I decided I didn't want to read The Painted Veil because of it's differences from the film (which was more romantic and tragic) it reminded me that I had wanted to read Fight Club (the movie version of which starred Edward Norton) and that reminded me that I had wanted to read The Prestige (which did not star Edward Norton, but was up against The Illusionist which did). Whew...so it's all Edward Norton's fault. The Prestige is a very good novel, and yet, the movie differs from it considerably. And I am still trying to figure out what exactly that means. The central premise is the same, AND HE...
Post a Comment
Read more

Putting my money (read time) where my mouth is

Some Duran Duran with some songs that I believe prove their musical merit. eSnips gives me the power and I'm going to use it. ( Bwahaha ) Get this widget Share Track details This is one of my all time favorite songs. I have it on a B-Side Collection, although I can't find any mention of what it was B-Side of, just that it came out in 1988. The words are quite haunting, as is the melody. But, I can hear you say, this is not at all a standard D2 song. Well, no, but what is a standard song by any band? How do you average that? Thomas Dolby's singles were always abnormal compared to the rest of their respective albums. Same with Barenaked Ladies. I think the B-Sides are often truer to what the band wants to be without the pressure of the labels for commercial success. Get this widget Share Track details This is probably more like Duran Duran you're thinking of, right? It's from Pop Trash , released 2000. The words are based on the true story of a boy who was building ...
8 comments
Read more

The end of Cloud Atlas

Feel I must write this--promised it to myself, can I finish before midnight (when I said I would go to bed at 11)? Where was I? Oh, yes, section 5, where it gets interesting--because it's the future, at least 25 years, hopefully more. I say hopefully, because I don't want to be living in this future. The section is called "An Orison of Sonmi-451." An Orison (I had to look it up, proving I don't remember my Shakespeare) is a prayer, but in this future world where language has taken as many turns as in Orwell's 1984, it is more a confession or final statement. Sonmi-451 is a clone (as the name might suggest). The section is not entirely original. It owes much to Brave New World and Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (made into the film Bladerunner ). I find it interesting that 40 or so years ago--when Dick wrote his book he believed that future slaves would be Androids, replicants. Now we are much more likely to presume they will be clo...
5 comments
Read more