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The Whole World is Now a Computer, Says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (zdnet.com)
Thanks to cloud computing, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, we should start to think of the planet as one giant computer, according to Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella. From a report: "Digital technology, pervasively, is getting embedded in every place: every thing, every person, every walk of life is being fundamentally shaped by digital technology -- it is happening in our homes, our work, our places of entertainment," said Nadella speaking in London. "It's amazing to think of a world as a computer. I think that's the right metaphor for us as we go forward."
[...] AI is core to Microsoft's strategy, Nadella said: "AI is the run time which is going to shape all of what we do going forward in terms of applications as well as the platform." Microsoft is rethinking its core products by using AI to connect them together, he said, giving an example of a meeting using translation, transcription, Microsoft's HoloLens and other devices to improve decision-making. "The idea that you can now use all of the computing power that is around you -- this notion of the world as a computer -- completely changes how you conduct a meeting and fundamentally what presence means for a meeting," he said.
[...] AI is core to Microsoft's strategy, Nadella said: "AI is the run time which is going to shape all of what we do going forward in terms of applications as well as the platform." Microsoft is rethinking its core products by using AI to connect them together, he said, giving an example of a meeting using translation, transcription, Microsoft's HoloLens and other devices to improve decision-making. "The idea that you can now use all of the computing power that is around you -- this notion of the world as a computer -- completely changes how you conduct a meeting and fundamentally what presence means for a meeting," he said.
And here I thought the network is the computer
Time to offend someone
The world is a network of computers connected by the internet. Profound!
love is just extroverted narcissism
The network is the computer.
- John Burdette Gage (1996)
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
... when you think that computer belongs to you.
There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
..and Miscreant-o-soft wants unhindered control over ALL OF IT. Time to break up Microsoft, they're getting too big for their pants.
The percentage of my frustration: 42.
The world may have a massive collection of computers. Huge sums of those machines are in cloud computing. But they are all separate. When all of them are connected and act as one, having access to everything all at once, then we will have a world computer. That moment is not now.
- We dream of the stars. Now let us return to them.
Is this the beginning of the real life Borg, right here at home? I, for one, welcome our new Collective overlords who, being a collective, cannot possibly be as evil as the dictatorial monopolies and tribes we have now.
Imagine a worldwide BSOD.
In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
I've frequently suggested regulating economies and creating public services to use the market as a computer.
In healthcare, for example, the US can provide a public option that guarantees everyone healthcare at all times. When they can get affordable care, we can put a payroll tax on their employer (and an additional income tax on their paycheck) for either the affordable rate or (if less) the amount they usually pay, thus ensuring neither gets a monetary benefit by selecting the public option over the employer's plan (selection of healthcare is 100% based on perceived quality of service).
Medicare tries to calculate a local market rate for a service. That results in many things, such as providers who can provide the service at lower cost billing in-line with other providers in the area, thus making wide profit margins from the government.
Our regulators have petabyte databases of remittance rates negotiated between every insurer and provider for every service. They're hooked up to powerful mainframes that can process the whole of this data in short hours. It's ridiculous.
So at each individual (service,provider) tuple, we can compute the normal distribution of remittance rates, and then select two standard deviations down. That's our negotiation cap. The Federal Public Option--Medicare Part E--negotiates rates at individual providers already; instead of using the market rate, Medicare would use the low-end remittance rate.
Somewhere, an insurer has negotiated a pretty good rate. The others might be getting robbed, but that doesn't matter. We are, at all times, for all services, nearly the ideal insurer.
This obviously requires some consideration. Sometimes, the insurer paying less also gets less service--sorting that out takes a lot of time; or we just make that practice illegal. We'll have to tweak the regulations to fit around the obvious outcome of providers creating slightly-different, substantially-similar packages for each insurer, and further when we see what the providers actually do about all this when we tell them they're not allowed to screw around like that.
Still. Wetware computer. No sinking tons of taxpayer resources into trying to win an information arms race against the market of suppliers, providers, and hospitals.
There are other things we need. An investigation into why our healthcare costs so much (I've looked at every explanation given and we might be able to squeeze it down to maybe 15% of GDP while still getting less service than Germany at 11% GDP--something is broken, and e don't know what). Publish local market standards of fairness so the private insurers getting the worst deals can argue their rates down. Make all insurers and hospitals operate as not-for-profit.
Universal healthcare is easy. Going from "universal healthcare" to "low-cost, high-performance universal healthcare" is going to take some work and the integrity to stick with it when it gets hard.
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There is a common tendency among experts of every domain to absolutize their field : particle physicists tend to make every physical effect into a particle. Evolutionary biologists try to explain every behaviour as a result of natural selection. Clinical psychologists make everything a result of their chosen theory of mental health. Economists make economics the ultimate cause and solution of every human problem. When you spend your entire life digging deeply into one topic, you start to see the world through the lens of your expertise. Sometimes this can lead to great discoveries. But it often leads to harmful overgeneralizations, or making a fool of yourself in public. This is one of those latter cases.
Sounds like he is behind the times.
I knew the mice must be in on it...
Guess I'll just go back to my pan galactic gargleblaster.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
Seriously, why is he saying this?
GPDR this fool.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I find him a lot like Bill Gates, for good or bad.
Table-ized A.I.
we should start to think of the planet as one giant computer
Does it run Linux?
Wow, metaphors are neat, aren't they? Here's one: Satya Nadella is a vacuum.
// This is not a sig.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is a fucking idiot.
The world is a computer and it's running Window's Vista.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
It's so unrelated to the concept he is trying to describe - that (primarily the citizens of advanced nations) encounter or operate some sort of microcontroller or computer so many times in their daily life that they can be considered ubiquitous and having a great impact on our life - that it's not a useful metaphor nor phrase.
Pick any other technology that's done the same. Like, I dunno, cars.
"It's amazing to think of a world as a car. I think that's the right metaphor for us as we go forward."
Look how stupid that sounds. Same with just about every other transformational technology; radio, tv, cell phones, airplanes, etc. It's not a useful abstraction or insightful discussion point. It's pure pablum.
"The idea that you can now use all of the computing power that is around you -- this notion of the world as a computer -- completely changes how you conduct a meeting and fundamentally what presence means for a meeting,"
mIRC 365, anyone?
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
The world is a computer and it's running Window's Vista.
That explains a lot.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
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Human Computer Formation
Underrated post.
I sure fucking hope it's OS isn't Windows.
Or anything BUT open source based for that matter.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
I just hope that nobody decides to reboot. That would mean 4.5 billion years down the drain.
As an aside, can somebody improve my memory retrieval function? It has been having some issues lately.
When all you have is a hammer...
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I wonder how many people got your post. That was SUN's slogan. The Network is the computer. They were still using that up until they ceased.
I wonder if Nutella knows that?
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
If you read the comment above and needed to know this was a quote by Douglas Adams, you don't belong here.
#DeleteFacebook
Yup, that's apropos.
...I'll take this statement a little more seriously.
The vast majority of Earths inhabitants have absolutely no use for computers, and aren't even aware of their existence.
"The Whole World is Now a Computer, Says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella."
Computers are trying to sell the idea that they will rule the world. Satya Nadella is one of those computers. Think that's wrong? Think Nadella is probably human? I have proof! A human would never treat other humans so badly as forcing them to see advertisements on Windows 10 desktop computers.
Someone! Make the world a better place! Find Satya Nadella's off switch. Leave him off until major updates are available. (I hope the updates are of better quality than those for Windows 10.)
Okay, that's a joke, with strong truthful elements.
Actually they programmed AI to do exactly this and it said to roll back to Windows 7. I guess they didn't like the answer.
love is just extroverted narcissism
42.
He isn't even half the man that Gates was during his prime.
that the CEO of one of the world's largest and most important tech companies can spout so much blatant, blithering nonsense? This missive sounds like one those pseudo-profound 'revelations' that rock the worlds of people who are very stoned on really good weed. Most of these people, when they come down from the high, recognize the sophomoric and pedestrian nature of their 'insights'. Maybe Satya is still stoned - or maybe he simply has that combination of narcissism and stupidity that that is the hallmark of those who habitually have their heads up their own asses.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
In what sense? Strategic brilliance? Evil? I'm not necessarily claiming he is as strategically smart as Gates, just a similar personality. (MS is doing fairly well financially, I'd note.)
For example, my personality is fairly similar to Leonardo da Vinci's, but I don't claim to be nearly as brilliant nor as creative. I formulate or encodify lots of different ideas, but procrastinate on the implementation and jump around between them, just like he did. (For example, table-oriented programming, table-oriented AI, dynamic relational, MASP {a map-oriented take on LISP}, merging file-system/database/cms into one system using dynamic relational, the "Assume Balance" accounting model as an alternative to double-entry model {which is bad factoring}, etc.) I also dabble in art and music, including auto-composing. Perhaps you can compare me to Leonardo with lead poisoning and/or football injuries. Who knows, maybe one day the ideas will catch on when the world realizes my brilliance. (Hey, stop coughing so loud.)
Table-ized A.I.
World is a computer, and its Blue Screen Of Death is made of resource exhaustion, climate change, and loss of biodiversity.
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I wondered why the world is full of so many bugs. :-)
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