45 years ago: Computers are a fad

April 1, 1968, on this blog: Computers are a fad

Just attended this presentation, in which Douglas Englebart

of the Stanford Research Institute  argues that mechanized

thinking machines will "augment the human intellect."

"If in your office," Engelbart said, "you as an intellectual

worker were supplied with a computer display, backed up by a

computer that was alive for you all day and was instantly

responsive to every action you have, how much value could

you derive from that?  Well this basically characterizes what

we've been pursuing for many years in what we call the

Augmented Human Intellect Research Center ..."

So Engelbart envisions a computer on the desk of every

American worker.  I'm optimistic about the future -- this

is 1968, our Space Age future is already here -- but this

seems like a preposterous fantasy.  It's like imagining that

someday ordinary people will own telephones. ...