The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
downlode.org
The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
1–10 of 20 posts
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#2What am i reading?
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#3Poor Eve. Always the villain.
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#4I find it interesting that exaggerated description of the pocket calculator at the end sounded a lot like a smart phone. Looks like predictions about future tech can be accurate after all.
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#5Those interested in cryptology and coding theory should definitely consider "The Code Book" by Simon Singh. It's a great account of how cryptology was used throughout history.
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#6I find it interesting that exaggerated description of the pocket calculator at the end sounded a lot like a smart phone. Looks like predictions about future tech can be accurate after all.
I feel like the most accurate predictions start as satire or comedy, not as serious bets. Satire plays to our gut instinct of what we suspect from the nature of future, and is shielded from technical criticism, so people feel more comfortable to take a stab at it without having to hedge.
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#7Those interested in cryptology and coding theory should definitely consider "The Code Book" by Simon Singh. It's a great account of how cryptology was used throughout history.
"The Information" is an excellent book with similar themes.
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#8I find it interesting that exaggerated description of the pocket calculator at the end sounded a lot like a smart phone. Looks like predictions about future tech can be accurate after all.
I feel like the most accurate predictions start as satire or comedy, not as serious bets. Satire plays to our gut instinct of what we suspect from the nature of future, and is shielded from technical criticism, so people feel more comfortable to take a stab at it without having to hedge.
There was a short story, which appeared in one of the HP calculator-centric publications of the 70's or 80's, I think written by a certain George R.R. Martin or Gordon Dickson, which attempted to extrapolate the HP 41CX into a portable voice activated assistant that could schedule appointments for you. I remember thinking that was pretty far fetched for a calculator. I don't think it would have made much more sense if the author had referred to the device as a "phone"...
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#9Poor Eve. Always the villain.
mandatory XKCD reference?
Re: The Alice and Bob After Dinner Speech (1984)
#10Someone want to explain the alphabet joke? "A for 'orse, B for..."