In love with a computer

Press, 21 November 1981, Page 15

In love with a computer

The Mighty Micro. By Christopher Evans. Coronet Books, 1981. 248 pp. Index. $5.95 (paperback).

(Reviewed by

Naylor Hillary)

Christopher Evans finished this book in 1979. Within a year, advances in computer technology had been so rapid that a new edition was called for. Unfortunately, Evans did not live to complete the revision which has been carried out by Robin Webster. Again the book is being overtaken by events, even before it has been long on the shelves. Evans forecast great advances in the “literacy” of computers; an article elsewhere on this page makes clear the computers may soon be able to write tolerable book reviews; they are capable now of improving the elegance of the English in this review. Evans’s book is not out of date, however, because some of its forecasts are coming true. Its chief message was that we must expect rapid developments, some of them in directions that cannot be foreseen. When such developments occur they do not invalidate all that Evans has to say in his diverting history of the development of the computer, a history that makes up a good part of “The Mighty Micro.” Nor do they alter the author’s

discussion of such perplexing matters as early retirement, super-intelligent computers, or the sudden expansion of access to information through new technology. Indeed, what Evans has to say becomes increasingly urgent and interesting. His final reflections are still heady stuff for common room debates. Will superintelligent computers find that having a very advanced intelligence is not necessarily a pleasant experience and decide themselves to limit any further advances in their own development? Will the community accept that consulting a medical computer is at least as reliable a way of obtaining a diagnosis and treatment as consulting a “real” doctor? Evans comments that pitting wits against computers in games, even relatively simple games such as the variations of “space invaders,” can be fascinating to the point of obsession. He remarks that university doctors are reporting cases of introverted students who have formed emotional attachments to computers. He suggests that the syndrome “I’m in love with a computer” may become more common. “The Mighty Micro,” in this new, cheap edition, make's a good starting point for a view of what is likely to be a bewildering 10, 20 or more years ahead.