faqs.org » Abstracts Index » Abstracts » Business, general

Running to keep up

Article Abstract:

The rapid pace of technological innovations poses a problem because people tend to respond poorly to near chaos. The accelerating rate of technological evolution is worrisome in view of the overwhelming pace of development in hardware and software, as well as the processes occurring invisibly that may create problems later on, as in the case of the Year 2000 problem. Technological changes can be classified into three broad groups: new technologies that replace old ones, new technologies that develop incrementally, and new technologies that suddenly emerge and change the status quo. The HotBot Internet search engine from HotWired is an example of the first type of new technologies, Dragon Software's speech interface software is an example of the second type, while Handwriter for Windows from Communications Intelligence Corp is a good example of the third type. These products are described.

Analysis, Innovations, Digital computers, Technological innovations

---

Checkmate humanity?

Article Abstract:

The Deep Blue computer is part of IBM's research on computerized problem solving. Although it gained renown when it defeated master player Garry Kasparov in May 1997 in the complicated game of chess, its application actually extends beyond this game. The much-hyped match was actually aimed at testing the computer, with the larger purpose of finding out how computers conduct problem-solving and how humans can benefit from such tools to deal with intricate problems. Other SP systems are being used in such applications as data warehousing and data mining, general transaction processing, online analytical processing, and server consolidation. Improvements in the processing function of these machines have been observed as a result of the minimized redundancy in parallel processing and higher bandwidth.

Research, Computer industry, Testing, Computer chess

---

Some parts © 2012 Advameg, Inc.