Gates Says No to Implants

Tamas Feher from Hungary writes "The future of Slashdot's infamous Borg Bill thumbnail image may be in jeopardy after Microsoft founder William H. Gates said technology will one day allow computer implants - but hardwiring's not for him. 'One of the guys that works at Microsoft... always says to me 'I'm ready, plug me in,"' Gates said Friday at a Microsoft seminar in Singapore when he was asked whether computers would ever be implanted in the human brain. "I don't feel quite the same way. I'm happy to have the computer over there and I'm over here.' "

Comments

That's Easy To Say

[DanielMarkham]

But where do you really draw the line? Most of us spend a lot of time staring at a LCD, would laser-projected images in the retina be that much of a stretch? Gates himself has his company working hard on speech recognition -- which is obviously a step towards taking away the interfaces. It seems to me the clear path is towards zero interfaces: direct brain stimulation. That would truly be the easiest thing for most users to operate. (But I wouldn't want to get a GPF in my brain! Ouch!)
So it's easy to say you're against connecting up to the computer, but it's not a black-and-white situation. I imagine integration will happen over several decades, not all at once.

Know What You're Talking About

Thats because the computer thats "over there"

[1lus10n]

Is running windows. Imagine the pain in the ass that would come about from a crash. Even Gates would admit that windows is not ready for this kind of critical application. Probably never will be.

I have always said that Microsofts failures and limits are because many people in that company (including Bill) always see the limit to computing. They are limited by what they think is reasonable and what they think will make the most money. Hell of a business plan, sucky for technological advancement though.

Now lets wait for all of the Microsoft zealots to flame/mod me.

Re:Thats because the computer thats "over there"

[someonewhois]

You're right. At the same time, though, neither is Linux. I wouldn't trust any curernt operating system in my brain, and you shouldn't either. Linux is far from perfect. Neither is Windows.

If we were to get computer-implants, they would be specifically designed for the brain, and they would be running with redundant fail-safe EVERYTHING. We shouldn't trust software that we know has a possibility (as small as that may be) of crashing.

Re:Thats because the computer thats "over there"

[Anonymous Coward]

If we were to get computer-implants, they would be specifically designed for the brain, and they would be running with redundant fail-safe EVERYTHING. We shouldn't trust software that we know has a possibility (as small as that may be) of crashing.

People drive cars every single day, despite the considerable risk of dying while in one. Just leaving the house already raises your chances of dying. Just because there is a risk associated with it does not mean people will not adopt it, as long as the benefit is large enough, and the risk widely known about and widely accepted.

Computer implants will not be fail-safe everything. Ofcourse, nor should they be, because the human body is not failsafe either.

By the way, is your car's onboard computer entirely failsafe? I bet you don't even know. I bet it isn't.

Re:Trust

[ImaLamer]

he's used Windows the most, and he sees a world of Windows domination...

Just to let you know...

[weavermatic]

I've been using WinXP pro since pre-launch, on multiple computers, with several hardware upgrades, and have never, ever, had a single BSOD. Could you Linux addicts please come up with something new to bash on Windows with other than Kernel32 era bsod insults?

Seriously, for people that claim to know Linux inside & out and be extremely bright IT professionals, if you can't keep WinXP running smoothly then your knowledge is seriously lacking.

Re:Just to let you know...

[dmaxwell]

Seriously, for people that claim to know Linux inside & out and be extremely bright IT professionals, if you can't keep WinXP running smoothly then your knowledge is seriously lacking.

It can be done. Much of the time, my job entails doing just that. It's just that it is more trouble and expense than it's worth.

Re:Just to let you know...

[I'mJVC]

OK,

1, Ad-ware / Spyware.
2, Virus, worms, Trojans, etc.
3, Web browser components running in kernel mode (means more 1 and 2).
4, Difficulty to use non-privileged accounts for regular use.
5, Too much patches that require reboot.
6, Bloat.
7, Slow development model that still has not delivered simple things as a tabbed browser, or other already available features.
8, Obscene licensing terms (Ever read your EULA?).
9, Crappy interoperability because of the lack of documentation, hidden apis, "embrace and extend" model and obscure development.
10, 100$+ price tag, 50$ + renewal for antivirus, not even a basic office suite (add more $$)...
11, Stall of innovation (Only improvals to XP in the last 4 years have been a software firewall, update downloader app, support for DEP and a lot of bug-fixes. New features are hyped constantly but still remain at a very distant future, like WinFS)

So, yes, while I can and do keep several XP's machines running smoothly, it's too time consuming, very expensive (worst in enterprise environments) and definitely not worth the hassle.

While MS has made a lot of improvements in stability, and it's still capitalizing previous successes in the enterprise market (Active Directory for example, is a great product), they still have a long way to go before they accept their own weak spots and do something about it (if they ever do).

The way I see it, people could pay comparable amounts and use a superior platform and OS, or they could go with a cheaper (even free) option, and still have competitive features/performance while always getting a more secure and more dependable scenario (means no more sunday mornings cleaning parents PC, or less I.T. staff doing support only tasks).

Re:I can understand his concern.

[Aaron England]

Uh right... because kidnappings and muggings have never transpired prior to this invention of chip implants.

It's inevitable

[artemis67]

When impants start making you more competitive in the marketplace, you bet it's going to take off -- especially if they can be discreetly implanted.

What happens when a chip implanted in your brain can make you 25% "smarter"? Most people will recoil at the thought; a few will take advantage of it, and it will gradually catch on, until we reach the point that the most competitive jobs routinely have super-human requirements, and the people who don't have implants will start sliding down the economic scale.

Never underestimate the power of greed to transform human society.

Re:Trust -- catch 22

[darkonc]

He knows that Windows will probably never be stable enough and safe enough to trust his life with -- on the other hand, he knows that SlashDot would have an absolute field day if we found out that Gates himself was running on Linux or BSD.

Remember: Gates and Microsoft are all about PR, but only when it hurts somebody else.

Re:soon...

[Decaff]

Video games do propel technology. But open source propels it further, IMHO.

I disagree, as I have always found open source software more efficient on lower specification technology. One of the reasons I promote its use is that it allows for longer hardware update cycles.

On the other hand, Video games are always requiring upgrades: I have been running Linux on machines that have a lower processor and memory spec that some of the video cards I recently had to purchase to run a game!

No child left behind

[johansalk]

Imagine a future situation where under the guisse of equal and universal access to education it would be mandated that every child from a young age be plugged in and online. Or imagine under the guisse of fighting "terrorism" - hey, we'll still be at it as long as it's expedient and serves special interests(!) - those in power would claim that "if your got nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about!"

Wait for it!

Re:Trust

[sp3tt]

Indeed it brings a whole new meaning to Blue Screen of Death. Kernel panic would not be much better though .

Always on Call. Always.

[Mulletproof]

I think Bill Gates has a point. When I want to leave the office, I want to leave the the office there, not take it with me everywhere I go. I'm just imagining having a pager built right into you 24/7... And that's just for starters.

I'm sure there will be different implant levels, but nah, i think I'll pass too.

Re:I mean seriously...

[linzeal]

Someoone mod this up, a lot of effort went into it this early Sunday morn'.

Re:soon...

[PakProtector]

Do you have any kind of evidence whatsoever to back that up? Hm. I suspect your tenure as an active slashdotter has not been as lengthy as it may have been, or in more common parlance, "you must be new here". Your cowardly reliance on anonymity, forthermore, may imply a certain embarrassment concerning your slashdot userid. I'd wager it's around twice mine.

Hmm. And I see yours is just over quadruple mine. Let me explain to you how it works in the 'real world.'

Money as a Motivator > Pretty much anything but your life as a Motivator.

The reason Open Source has such difficulty is because, in the material society we live in, people do not understand how someone can give something away for free and it be worth something.

People are much more accepting of software (people in general -- not people who neccessarily have a clue) when they have to pay for it. After all, if you pay for it, it must be better than something you can just get for free, right?

Thank you. Now, next time you make a joke about UID, please don't do it till there are people whose UID's are six times your own.

Re:Trust -- catch 22

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

WTF was this modded insightful? I hate to break it to you, but I don't want to trust Linux or BSD with my life.

QNX, maybe. But not Windows, Linux, or BSD.