Despite their sometimes foreboding presence in science fiction, computers are our friends. And sometimes much, much more. In 1960 psychologist and computer scientist J.C.R. Licklider wrote a paper titled Man-Computer Symbiosis in which he envisioned a fully cooperative interaction between computers and humans. Back then it was revolutionary, and still today we have yet to achieve all that was envisioned by Licklider. The idea of building an integrated yet autonomous technological system has encountered many fundamental obstacles, practical as well as theoretical. Nevertheless, there has been progress toward that end. After all, Lickliders paper marked the genesis of computer neural networks which later blossomed into what we now call the Internet. So whats next in the inexorable march toward a symbiotic relationship with machines? Well, our current technology controls our ability to manipulate information, and that fact in turn controls our ability to develop new, improved technologies. Computer scientists have therefore set themselves to the task of developing computer-based technologies for manipulating information directly. It is a world of networked smart devices equipped with interconnected sensors, all connected to the Internet, all sharing information with each other without human intervention. Known as the Internet of Things (IoT), it will link billions of machines, devices and people across the globe ... universally, spontaneously, simultaneously. It all sounds pretty fantastic. But the IoT is already here, used for the most part by the Clandestine Service and surveillance industries. But this application is just a scratch on the surface of what is possible. Still, while the IoT promises many benefits, it also comes with challenges. For example it will go nowhere without reliable connectivity and, more importantly, novel cloud architectures, which is the practice of using a network of remote servers to store, manage and process data, rather than a personal computer. The Cloud, as its called, is the result of evolution and adoption of existing technologies and paradigms. Its goal is to allow users to take benefit from all existing technologies at once, without the need for deep knowledge about or expertise with each one of them. In other words, a fully cooperative interaction between computers and humans. Architecturally-enabled applications of cloud computing will become the dominant computing infrastructure of the future. To that end, researchers at the Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in partnership with Raytheon BBN Technologies, have created a cutting-edge cloud computing testbed called CloudLab that enables the research community to develop and experiment with cloud architectures. CloudLab will provide approximately 15,000 processing cores and 2 petabytes of storage at its three data centers. Its hard to visualize what a Petabyte can hold. Just 1 Petabyte can hold approximately 20 million 4-door filing cabinets full of text, or hold 500 billion pages of standard printed text. It would take about 500 million floppy disks to store the same amount of data. Now imagine 2 Petabyes. It can hold all the academic research libraries within the United States. This new project, part of the NSF CISE Research Infrastructure, has already revolutionized the way we think about the Internet. For people who only know todays computerized, information-rich world, the change from what came before, and thus Lickliders impact on the world, is probably hard to truly fathom. But these are the extrapolations of his vision. From Man-Computer Symbiosis to the Internet of Things to Cloud Computing, these recent advances would not have been possible without the disruptive genius of Licklider. Indeed we have come a long way. Just image what the relationship between computing and humanity will bring us over the coming decades. Its mind boggling for sure.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 02:42:36 +0000
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