Perspectives #60: Too Soon to Tell: Essays for the End of the Computer Revolution

A rich collection of essays that explores enduring themes of the computer era

Too Soon to Tell is a revised and expanded collection of David Alan Grier's popular monthly column "In Our Time" for Computer magazine. In forty-three personal essays—twenty of which are entirely new for this publication—the author draws upon the experiences of everyday people, their companies, and their interactions to reveal how computers moved from the drawing table and into our offices and living rooms. The result is a book that offers a singular portrait of the computer revolution that has yet to be told.

Written in a simple, easy-to-follow style that is free of industry jargon, each essay begins with a short introduction that recounts the author's experiences with his students or those of the author's father and his generation of computer scientists—which seamlessly connect the themes that are explored throughout the book. Set against a backdrop that spans more than half a century, this poignant book allows readers to gain an intimate and meaningful understanding of the relationship between humans and machines, the connections between fathers and sons, the impact of rapid technological change on the family, and the revolutionary nature of a technology that has rebuilt human institutions in its own image.

Too Soon to Tell is an original and starkly human portrait of the computer era that will entice readers from all walks of life.

Provides an organized and carefully selected collection of current research papers from two recent symposia, including The Characterization and Processing of Nanosize Powders and Particles and Nanoscale and Multifunctional Materials symposia both held at the 6th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology in Fall 2005. The topics covered include techniques to characterize nanosize powders and nanoparticle dispersions, green processing of nanopowders, and the sintering and microstructure of nanoparticle assemblies.

Based on author David A. Grier's column "In Our Time," which runs monthly in Computer magazine, Too Soon To Tell presents a collection of essays skillfully written about the computer age, an era that began February 1946. Examining ideas that are both contemporary and timeless, these chronological essays examine the revolutionary nature of the computer, the relation between machines and human institutions, and the connections between fathers and sons to provide general readers with a picture of a specific technology that attempted to rebuild human institutions in its own image.

David Alan Grier writes the "In Our Time" column for Computer magazine and is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. His first book, When Computers Were Human, won favorable reviews on NPR's Marketplace?and in Nature and Discover. Grier writes across a wide variety of genres, including general news pieces for the Washington Post, children's articles, and academic pieces for American Mathematical Monthly and the Communications of the ACM.

Preface: To Have Been Young in that Hour.

Section I: The Computer Era (1946-1973).

Out of Position.

Seymour Cray's Cat.

Songs of Comfort and Joy.

Life on the Frontier.

Museum Pieces.

The Curve of Innovation.

Public Image.

The Enduring Myth of Hardware.

Choosing Our Way.

Friend of the Band.

Family Portrait.

Section II: The Age of Information (1974-1987).

Coming of Age.

Riding with Bohannon.

The Language of Bad Love.

Common Knowledge.

Conflict-Free Memories.

On the Right Side of the Road.

Fork in the Path.

The Best Deal in Town.

Crossing the Divide.

Auditions.

Annie and the Boys.

Mergers and Divestitures.

Old Bottles.

Section III: The Days of Cyberspace: (1986-2007).

Alley Life.

On the Camino Real.

Dirty Electricity.

Because We Were Different.

A Winter of Hope and a Spring of Despair.

Coming into the Country.

Outposts.

The Captured Imagination.

Shutdown.

Force of Nature.

Ever Onward! Thanks for Asking!

Emailing from Armenia.

The Boundaries of Time.

Counting Beans.

The Eyes of the World.

The Lay of the Land.

Circle of Light.

Beyond the Horizon.

Epilogue: Indicator Lamps.

Disclaimers, References and Notes.

Index.