December 19, 2008 at 9:36 am
EdVassie (12/19/2008)
Deep Thought.Marvin and Holly are very close contenders, but Deep Thought has the solution to Life, the Universe, and Everything, even though you won't like the answer.
42
But you won't like the question.
December 19, 2008 at 9:38 am
davidthegray (12/19/2008)
I was quite impressed by the MI computers in the latest James Bond. That's how a dream computer should work.But to me, the best computer scene in all the movie history of all times is the Star Trek scene (I can't remember the title of the movie, the one where they go back to our times to save the whales), when Mr Spock grabs a mouse and uses it as a microphone saying "Computer!". I literally rolled on the floor laughing the first time I've seen that!
That was Scotty, not Spock!
December 19, 2008 at 9:38 am
Surprised no one mentioned---
Andromeda Ascendant
December 19, 2008 at 9:39 am
Grant Fritchey (12/19/2008)
Nuts. I was going to put Collosus up. The Forbin Project.It's also a series of books; Collosus, Fall of Collosus, Collosus and the Crab.
I suspect they're VERY dated now.
Oh, hey, I know, Mike from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Not a movie, but it should be.
Great book. I think it may be Heinlein's best.
December 19, 2008 at 9:41 am
Jason Miller (12/19/2008)
It was Scotty talking into the mouse of Mac while trying to get transparent aluminum in our times. My first thought was, why not regular aluminum?The Holodeck? And people thought the 80s crack wave was bad...
For me it wasn't the computer, but the interface. I've discussed at length the advantages and disadvantages of an interface similar to the one in "Saturn 3". Direct connection between the computer and a human brain.
While it could really speed up a lot of things, I'm not a fan. Too easy to "pass a virus".
There was a story out this week on the web about a Japanese team who have been able to get a computer scan of brain waves to replicate black and white images that a test subject is thinking about.
December 19, 2008 at 9:42 am
Chris Campbell (12/19/2008)
OOOHHH! I have to add one on the subject of "portrayed realistically"...Jeff Goldblum's laptop in Independence Day. He was able to tap into totally alien computers and operating systems in about 5 minutes without even any knowledge of their language or protocols. WOW! That TCP/IP really is universal isn't it?
And don't forget...it was a also a Mac. Serious product placement money there...I mean, how often are Mac's used for hacking in the real world (well, now that it runs Unix, more potential fun there).
Gaby
________________________________________________________________
"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."
- Albert Einstein
December 19, 2008 at 9:44 am
jpowers (12/19/2008)
Jason Miller (12/19/2008)
It was Scotty talking into the mouse of Mac while trying to get transparent aluminum in our times. My first thought was, why not regular aluminum?The Holodeck? And people thought the 80s crack wave was bad...
For me it wasn't the computer, but the interface. I've discussed at length the advantages and disadvantages of an interface similar to the one in "Saturn 3". Direct connection between the computer and a human brain.
While it could really speed up a lot of things, I'm not a fan. Too easy to "pass a virus".
There was a story out this week on the web about a Japanese team who have been able to get a computer scan of brain waves to replicate black and white images that a test subject is thinking about.
Holy cow. Do you have a link for that?
Happy holidays to all,
webrunner
-------------------
A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html
December 19, 2008 at 9:45 am
OK...if we're on to books...here's another one...
How about the "Fantasy Game" from Ender's Game?
It knows all of your weaknesses and fears and plays on them and then ultimately evolves into "Jane" the supreme, all-powerful, all-knowing super-intellgence that allows humanity to travel faster than light.
Ugh! I'm such a nerd!
December 19, 2008 at 9:48 am
blandry (12/19/2008)
(First - a correction for AndyD... Holly is NOT the female computer in Red Dwarf - that is Hilly. Holly is the actor Norman Lovett, a male computer who was in 6 of the 8 seasons of Red Dwarf, Hilly appeared in 2 seasons...)I have yet to see any computer, in any movie, that even comes close to reality. The closest there is out there is Hal from 2001 because at least Hal goes haywire - like most PC's and Mini's I have known eventually do. If I were God King of the Universe I would make it a law that Hollywood must portray computers as they are in the real world... So in my world....
When Tom Cruise is waving his hands back and forth in Minority Report, there would have to be a blue screen appear stating "Invalid Page Fault"... When Robert Downey is designing his Iron Man suit in Iron Man, there would have to be a flash, and then his hologrammatic screen would go blank, and a message would appear saying "You must load the Dot Net Framework version 35.5 for this to work."... When Will Smith is chasing Sonny the robot in I, Robot, there would have to be a point where Sonny stops dead and a message flashes on his forehead stating "Query not valid for context."... When Sigourney Weaver is rigging the self-destruct in Alien, Mother, the ship's computer would have to announce "Self Destruct Codec is not loaded, please insert original system disk." and she would have to spend 10 movie minutes searching for the disk...
I hate movie computers because they are never real - they always work and never seem to have problems save for Hal in 2001.
Lets face it, by the time we Earthlings actually reach these future visions, SQL Server will require a DBA, a DBAA (assistant), a DBPC (database psychological counselor), and a DBHS (database hair stylist)... - Heck! Even now I am supposed to believe that even one DBA is not enough! What will THAT be in 100 years???
So lets have movies portray what is really coming... Future computers wont be these sleek, failure-proof, save-the-day, know-everything machines - They will all be made by Walmart (having taken over the world in 2050), and they will fail regularly, but can be easily exchanged at your local Walmart.
What a sad image! Everyone knows that the future computers will get so smart and fault resistant/self-repairing that we will simply need to verbalize our desire and they will take care of the problem - think R2D2, C3PO, etc. Of course, there will be systems like the one in Wall-E which knows what is best for us and won't let us change its programming....
December 19, 2008 at 9:50 am
Jarvis, Tony Stark's computer AI in Iron Man. (voiced by the awesome paul bettany)
And GLaDOS from the video game Portal.
Both are intelligent and deadly and can also be sarcastic or unintentionally funny.
Just remember "The Cake is a Lie!"
December 19, 2008 at 9:52 am
Probably the most influential piece of technology in recent memory, is the CNN Political Map. Anyone who watched coverage up to and on the U.S. election on CNN would have been aware of that map John King was manipulating. It is a great example of taking various technologies and merging them into something very useful (at least for a political junkie). For example, you have the touch screen interface, Java or Flash or something else for the nifty map movements, colour changes, "what-if" scenarios, and of course, the reliable SQL Server 😉 running in the background holding all the data.
On a side note, one of the most annoying pieces of technology was CNN's choppy attempt at a "hologram" during the election. I wasn't impressed.
Gaby
________________________________________________________________
"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."
- Albert Einstein
December 19, 2008 at 9:54 am
That computer that Tom Cruise uses in Minority Report. I could get so much stuff done with an interactive screen that size.
December 19, 2008 at 9:55 am
Matthew Joughin (12/19/2008)
i remember "flight of the navigator" and "small wonder" as well 🙂that reminds me of "Bionic 6"
does anyone remember the big computer that the professor had, where the screen filled the wall (no so implausible now)
the best thing about it was the keyboard, which seemed to have a million keys. They had no characters on them, but he seemed to know what they all did.
in fact there were so many that he stood to operate it!
Also he could "connect" and see images of any one seeminly anywhere in the world. I guess they knew about the internet and CCTV long before we did!
While we're talking about computers that need someone standing to operate them, how about the TARDIS from the Dr. Who series?
December 19, 2008 at 9:59 am
Wayne West (12/19/2008)
Man, the first thing I thought of when reading the editorial and before I got to the replies was Colossus and the Crab and it was like the third reply! I wouldn't consider the replicants from Blade Runner to be computers, but the computer that Deckard used to enhance a photo was pretty freakin' awesome. Bryce and crew from Max Headroom is a definite favorite, Amanda was such a babe. And though I didn't care much for the Matrix trilogy (never bothered with the third movie), apparently the scene in the second movie when Trinity takes down the power grid, it was an authentic *nix display and she was using it correctly. Or at least that's what I heard.My most hated computer is the laptop from Independence Day that takes out the alien mothership. Ethernet is not that universal, sorry.
My favorite humorous depiction is any TV show or movie where the person sits down and just starts rapidly hitting keys: in most cases they never hit the space bar.
At least in most modern TV shows and movies they no longer take long, lingering camera shots of the twirling tape reels and blinking lights.
December 19, 2008 at 10:00 am
adykstra (12/19/2008)
Johnny 5 (Short Circuit) is my all time favorite. After all he has a laser, megabytes of memory and he's funny as :). Tony Stark's system was pretty far out :w00t: and makes my current fav.
Loved the movie Short Circuit. Another case of bad robot becomes good when it meets the right girl.
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