From: Emlyn (onetel) (emlyn@one.net.au)
Date: Fri Jul 14 2000 - 23:48:45 MDT
> Robert Bradbury wrote:
> >I think the hardware becoming cheap enough to compete with humans
> >will take a while. ... So any uploads will be competing with augmented
> >humans which is going to make their operating costs and performance
> >requirements even more difficult.
> >To get the hardware "cheap enough", you need a driver for the research
> >required to quickly advance the curve on what is likely to be highly
special
> >purpose hardware. ... I agree that uploads, especially if you can remove
> >the consciousness, would make an ideal "killer app". ... At the same
time
> >it is going to be a very risky proposition until we have more fundamental
> >knowledge on how the brain works. ...
I'm not sure that I agree that the hardware will need to be all that special
purpose. You're basically looking at massive massively parallel hardware,
which has got to be where hardware is heading in any case.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,37285,00.html
(the above is I guess an example of highly special purpose hardware, but
notice the mention of high use of of-the-shelf components).
Is it more likely that we'll get far faster massively parallel systems (at
cheapish prices) first, or that we'll be able to conquer the problems of
high bandwidth connections between human & machine, an area of technology
that could barely be said to have hatched?
Emlyn
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