Just by doing some quick math off the top of my head... I wonder why they didn't simply say they were 66% certain the universe is 15.6 billion years old.
I don't see how this could be used to store data. The article doesn't really describe this. I thought the structure of a fractal was sort of "predetermined" by only a few variables. Like the Mandelbrot set, for example. I suppose you could fiddle with those variables until you got a magnetic field that just "happens" to fit all your stored data, but that seems awfully inefficient. I guess I just don't understand.
But don't you think that's an awfully oppressive message? Hobbits are portrayed as "good" because they know their place. It does seem to go against the idea of power to the people.
Ahem... Did you actually read the whole article. Because he makes your point for you at the end. Brin explicitly admits that he's been pulling the readers leg.
Besides, I think he makes a good point that people may read pure fantasy as a morality tale whether it is intended to be or not.
Remember, the fiber itself isn't the product you buy from the phone companies. The product is the internet or telecommunications. The fiber is only a component of this product. It has to be lit up and connected to something before it becomes useful and part of the supply vs demand equation. Dark fiber in the ground is only a step away from a coil of fiber sitting in a warehouse.
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Just by doing some quick math off the top of my head... I wonder why they didn't simply say they were 66% certain the universe is 15.6 billion years old.
I don't see how this could be used to store data. The article doesn't really describe this. I thought the structure of a fractal was sort of "predetermined" by only a few variables. Like the Mandelbrot set, for example. I suppose you could fiddle with those variables until you got a magnetic field that just "happens" to fit all your stored data, but that seems awfully inefficient. I guess I just don't understand.
But don't you think that's an awfully oppressive message? Hobbits are portrayed as "good" because they know their place. It does seem to go against the idea of power to the people.
Ahem... Did you actually read the whole article. Because he makes your point for you at the end. Brin explicitly admits that he's been pulling the readers leg. Besides, I think he makes a good point that people may read pure fantasy as a morality tale whether it is intended to be or not.
I believe I've seen 1 thru 8, but I can only actually remember 2 and 3 (which I thought were very good). Could be I'm repressing the rest of them.
Remember, the fiber itself isn't the product you buy from the phone companies. The product is the internet or telecommunications. The fiber is only a component of this product. It has to be lit up and connected to something before it becomes useful and part of the supply vs demand equation. Dark fiber in the ground is only a step away from a coil of fiber sitting in a warehouse.