There are no such things
as electronic brains
You probably think that sounds preposterous in a publication that avowedly sets out to tell its readers all about electronic brains. But there are, in fact, no such things. The machines called electronic brains are nothing but electronic calculating machines.
Of course they are devices that almost perform miracles. But only "almost." In reality, they cannot work wonders, but merely execute masterly performances of technical precision. Calling them "electronic brains" is going too far. At the present time, their intelllgence is not much greater than that of a tea strainer.
We teIl of the capacities and capabillties - and of the over-estimation - of electronic computers in this book. "We" are a mathematician with journalistic interests and a journallst with technical ones. We do not demand any prellminary knowledge of the Subject from you, except that you should know how to add two numbers together. Most electronic brains cannot in fact do more than that, though they can do it more quickly than we can.
We can assure you that a good deal of this story is as exciting as a thriller. We have taken the trouble to make sure that it is not difficult to read. And, as in a detective story, you will find at the end (perhaps before) the solution to aIl the puzzles presented in the beginning. Of course, whether the Story of the Electronic Revolution will have a happy ending is a question that is not answered in this book. We shaIl know that in ten or twenty years, perhaps.
Beasts Made of Wires and Switches >>>>
©
by PhiloPhax & Lauftext
& Redaktion Lohberg
Kybernetik
- Was ist das?
First printed in Germany: 1963