Re: Machine translation from 1948 to 2003
In my previous note about progress in machine translation,
I also mentioned that fundamental progress in all branches of
computer science, including hardware architecture, is slow.
(See below for the excerpt from that note.)
I just noticed that the VP and CTO of Sun Microsystems is
giving a lecture on a similar theme. See the announcement
below. Things that seem to be revolutionary, such as the
rapid development of the WWW in the past decade, are mostly
the result of older technology repackaged in a form that
becomes widely available for economic reasons.
For those of us interested in logic, ontology, knowledge
representation, natural language semantics, and related areas,
the quest for new innovations is certainly desirable, but we
should also look for older technology that we can repackage
in more effective ways, socially and economically.
John Sowa
_____________________________________________________________
The Glacial Rate of Breakneck Change
with Greg Papadopoulos, PhD,
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Sun Microsystems Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What: It's really easy to equate the breathtaking exponential growth in
computing technologies with an underlying innovation in computing
architecture. Nothing could be further from the truth. In this unabashedly
personal perspective of our living computer history, Greg Papadopoulos
distills what has -- and hasn't -- been happening in the design of
computers over the past few decades, and uses that to make some predictions
as to what the next few will bring. He discusses that, when you boil it all
down, there are perhaps only four or five basic ideas in computing;
everything else we experience are just constant factors.
Who: Greg Papadopoulos, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology
Officer, Sun Microsystems Inc.
When: Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Member and Invited Guest Reception - 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Lecture - 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: Computer History Museum
Hahn Auditorium
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
REGISTRATION
Free. Suggested donation of $10.00 at the door from non-members.
For more information on the event, please visit the Museum's Web site or
call (650) 810-1019.