Neil Gershenfeld

This book "When Things Start to Think" has been on my husband's bookshelf for years and I never thought about reading it. With recent discussions about AI, I decided to pull it off the shelf and start to read it. Reading this book, published in 1999 through the lens of 2023 eyes, I realized how prescient Dr. Neil Gershenfeld was. Through these pages, he talked about computerized fashion - such as smart watches, health/exercise meters, how the inanimate objects (computers) become animate through the information they glean and learn from us the end users.

As I read each page, my eyes appreciated more and more Dr. Gershenfeld's work, his mind, and kept wanting to read on. Now I want to read his other works.… (más)

This book considers how the industrial revolution has almost gone full circle.

From the early days of artisan and craft production, to the massive factories that can turn out numerous copies of the same item, the future of production will start to be possible from your desk or office.

He considers the new rapid prototyping machines and looks at the way the developing world can use these tools to make their own lives easier. The author goes into some detail on some basic projects that anyone can undertake.

It’s not too bad, but technologies have moved on swiftly since it was published, and I think that Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson will give an more up to date point of view… (más)