Steve Lohr Piece on Computing in the NY Times

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ed Lazowska <lazowska () cs washington edu>
Date: October 31, 2006 10:07:00 AM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: FW: Great Steve Lohr Piece on Computing in the NY Times

 for IP?

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-government () cra org [mailto:owner-government () cra org] On
Behalf Of Peter Harsha
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 4:20 AM
To: government () cra org
Subject: Great Steve Lohr Piece on Computing in the NY Times

Spurred by last week's CSTB meeting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/31/science/31essa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

October 31, 2006
ESSAY

Computing, 2016: What Won't Be Possible?

By STEVE LOHR

Computer science is not only a comparatively young field, but also one
that has had to prove it is really science. Skeptics in academia would
often say that after Alan Turing described the concept of the "universal
machine" in the late 1930's - the idea that a computer in theory could
be made to do the work of any kind of calculating machine, including the
human brain - all that remained to be done was mere engineering.

The more generous perspective today is that decades of stunningly rapid
advances in processing speed, storage and networking, along with the
development of increasingly clever software, have brought computing into
science, business and culture in ways that were barely imagined years
ago. The quantitative changes delivered through smart engineering opened
the door to qualitative changes.

Computing changes what can be seen, simulated and done. So in science,
computing makes it possible to simulate climate change and unravel the
human genome. In business, low-cost computing, the Internet and digital
communications are transforming the global economy. In culture, the
artifacts of computing include the iPod, YouTube and computer-animated
movies.
What's next? That was the subject of a symposium in Washington this
month held by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, which
is part of the National Academies and the nation's leading advisory
board on science and technology. Joseph F. Traub, the board's chairman
and a professor at Columbia University, titled the symposium "2016."

Computer scientists from academia and companies like I.B.M. and Google
discussed topics including social networks, digital imaging, online
media and the impact on work and employment. But most talks touched on
two broad themes: the impact of computing will go deeper into the
sciences and spread more into the social sciences, and policy issues
will loom large, as the technology becomes more powerful and more
pervasive.
<snip>

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