Black Hole

The Problem with Computers

by Alex Heatley

"There are two kinds of fool. One says, `This is old, and therefore good'. And one says `This is new and therefore better'."

John Brunner, "The Shockwave Rider"

"I went on to test the program in every way I could devise. I strained it to expose its weaknesses. I ran it for high-mass stars and low-mass stars, for stars born exceedingly hot and those born relatively cold. I ran it assuming the superfluid currents beneath the crust to be absent -- not because I wanted to know the answer, but because I had developed an intuitive feel for the answer in this particular case. Finally, I got a run in which the computer showed the pulsar's temperature to be less than absolute zero. I had found an error. I chased down the error and fixed it. Now I had improved the program to the point it would not run at all."

George Greenstein, "Frozen Star: Of Pulsars, Black Holes and the Fate of Stars"

"The primary purpose of the DATA statement is to give names to constants; instead of referring to pi (p) as 3.141592653589793 at every appearance, the variable PI can be given that value with a DATA statement and used instead of the longer form of the constant. This also simplifies modifying the program, should the value of pi change."

FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home."

Ken Olsen, President of DEC, World Future Society Convention, 1977

"The personal computer market is about the same size as the total potato chip market. Next year it will be about half the size of the pet food market and is fast approaching the total worldwide sales of pantyhose."

James Finke, President, Commodore International Ltd. (1982)

"In the future, you're going to get computers as prizes in breakfast cereals. You'll throw them out because your house will be littered with them."

Robert Lucky

"The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows."

Frank Zappa

"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining."

Jeff Raskin, interviewed in "Dr Dobb's Journal"

"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

Pablo Picasso

Alex Heatley works in the field of Computing, and believes in not re-inventing the wheel...