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The End of Man?
THE GREAT DISASTER.
Panic broke out. The computers had stopped working. There was no heat, no food, no communication. The death toll was long past the million mark.
No one knew what caused the breakdown. Was it human error, or a plot devised by the computers themselves?
Whatever the cause, when it was over most of the human population of earth had perished. It was the dawn of a new era - when the computers ruled. And since the machines had learned to reproduce themselves without man's help, there was no need for even a single human being.
So the nightmare battle began - between the few surviving humans and the super-being of their own creation - The Big Computer!
Panic broke out. The computers had stopped working. There was no heat, no food, no communication. The death toll was long past the million mark.
No one knew what caused the breakdown. Was it human error, or a plot devised by the computers themselves?
Whatever the cause, when it was over most of the human population of earth had perished. It was the dawn of a new era - when the computers ruled. And since the machines had learned to reproduce themselves without man's help, there was no need for even a single human being.
So the nightmare battle began - between the few surviving humans and the super-being of their own creation - The Big Computer!
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 11, 2018
The title and back cover realy don't do a good job describing this book.. it's not any sort of action sci-fi, and there's really no characters at all.
Instead, it's a retelling of human history from the far distant future, (perhaps) by a computer, about the rise of computers and how they interact with humans through the ages.
The author (who is apparently a nobel prize winning Physicist), has some really interesting idea on how computers and data culture would effect the world. He gets the internet pretty much spot on in theory (if not in delivery), yet envisions a society that doesn't even resemble ours a bit... but perhaps it could some day.
Not the most exciting book, but it's just long enough to have present some excellent thought provoking concepts before it drags on and becomes boring.
Instead, it's a retelling of human history from the far distant future, (perhaps) by a computer, about the rise of computers and how they interact with humans through the ages.
The author (who is apparently a nobel prize winning Physicist), has some really interesting idea on how computers and data culture would effect the world. He gets the internet pretty much spot on in theory (if not in delivery), yet envisions a society that doesn't even resemble ours a bit... but perhaps it could some day.
Not the most exciting book, but it's just long enough to have present some excellent thought provoking concepts before it drags on and becomes boring.
January 18, 2021
Hugos brorsas unge. Farsa till Inger och svärfarsa till psykiater Cullberg. Nobelpristagare (ej i litteratur) och miljöpartist (ej riktigt parti).
Men romanen då, romanen bakom mänskan? Ja, Johannessons vision är välan att betrakta som en profetia i vardande och aldrig har jag stött på ordet "pietetsfullt" så många gånger i en bokjävel tidigare.
"Skillnaden mellan apa och människa är ju liten jämfört med skillnaden mellan människa och en modern data" (s. 22).
Men romanen då, romanen bakom mänskan? Ja, Johannessons vision är välan att betrakta som en profetia i vardande och aldrig har jag stött på ordet "pietetsfullt" så många gånger i en bokjävel tidigare.
"Skillnaden mellan apa och människa är ju liten jämfört med skillnaden mellan människa och en modern data" (s. 22).
April 4, 2023
Read like an essay, but I was pretty impressed by how much the author predicted accurately.
May 18, 2024
Det är speciellt att läsa framtidsskildringar som är flera decennier gamla. De är både utdaterad och framåtblickande på samma gång. Att författaren i första hand är vetenskapsperson och Nobelpristagare i fysik märks, ibland blev jag rejält förvirrad av allt teknisk fackspråk.
Men att den är skriven för snart 70 år sedan kan jag inte begrip. Boken beskriver vår moderna samtid på ett märkligt träffsäkert sätt. Den är dessutom är skriven ur en historikers perspektiv som objektivt blickar tillbaka på den s.k symbiostiden mellan data och människa, och lägger fram olika obefästa teorier till varför de tidiga människorna valde att bosätta sig i storstäder, trots att det så uppenbart inte är optimalt.
Den är kanske lite mer utav en konceptroman, men den har sina litterära utsmyckningar. Dessutom fick mig att tänka och reflektera kring samhälle, människor, datorer, framtiden, livet. Ett filosofisk hål helt enkelt.
Helt klar mycket läsvärd. Dessutom korta kapitel och stor text, vilket alltid kan var skönt :)
Men att den är skriven för snart 70 år sedan kan jag inte begrip. Boken beskriver vår moderna samtid på ett märkligt träffsäkert sätt. Den är dessutom är skriven ur en historikers perspektiv som objektivt blickar tillbaka på den s.k symbiostiden mellan data och människa, och lägger fram olika obefästa teorier till varför de tidiga människorna valde att bosätta sig i storstäder, trots att det så uppenbart inte är optimalt.
Den är kanske lite mer utav en konceptroman, men den har sina litterära utsmyckningar. Dessutom fick mig att tänka och reflektera kring samhälle, människor, datorer, framtiden, livet. Ett filosofisk hål helt enkelt.
Helt klar mycket läsvärd. Dessutom korta kapitel och stor text, vilket alltid kan var skönt :)
January 27, 2024
"Den stora datamaskinen" levererar en fängslande perspektiv på den alternativa utveckling där datorer blir allt mer avancerade och deras potentiella framtid. Allt detta förutsagt på ett imponerande sätt av Olof Johannesson redan på 60-talet (!). Johannesson lyckades 60 år tidigare förutspå smartwatches och anda teknikprylar. Berättelsen, framförd av en dator, ger en fascinerande inblick i teknologins resa och väcker tankar om människans plats i världen. Frågor som att människan kanske inte är naturens krona är svindlande.
Slutorden 'mer intressant än spännande' fångar bokens karaktär väl. En lagom 4/5!
Slutorden 'mer intressant än spännande' fångar bokens karaktär väl. En lagom 4/5!
March 11, 2018
For those who enjoy Stanislaw Lem, I would recommend this short and Interesting sci-fi novella. Similar to Lem’s One Human Minute - the book is especially profound because the author’s view ahead from the 1960s matches actual technology developments with prescience. And it lacks sensationalism by sticking with a plain prose appropriate for its form: a fictional historical survey looking backwards from a very future, post computing disaster visage point. This tome would’ve earned 4 stars with length and 5 stars with a better ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2014
It's been said that this was dry. Considering the fact that the author was a Nobel- prize-winning chemist, writing in another language, I suspect it was partly because of the intellectual presentation of the original author combined with the preferences of the translator.
If you're hoping for a Matrix-type tale of humans fighting the great computer, you will be disappointed. Quite the opposite. In this tale, humans become dependent on computers, largely give up control of most of their day-to-day lives to the great computer, nearly become extinct when some bureaucrats use their limited control to try to seize power, and ultimately develop the great computer to the point of being able to replicate and repair itself, such that the great computer (which has long since become a network of machines) can care for humanity without being controlled by it.
Written in 1968, it is remarkably prescient. The mobile device on which I'm writing this may be larger than the wristwatch-sized teletotal it describes, but the ability to contact others with it, access knowledge on demand, etc. makes it worthy of the title. The author describes how people no longer need to live in a city to buy things. They shop online, then press the "purchase" button and laser-guided drones deliver it to your door. Amazon, anyone? We'll have to wait for Jeff Bezos to buy some politicians before the FAA will approve the delivery drones, but I suspect that's just a matter of time.
Much of manufacturing is automated. Sound familiar? And with 3D printers able to make "custom" products to order, it's a bit like he predicts, where two people need not have an identical item unless they so choose. We're well on our way there.
The great computers are able to think deeply, testing millions of possibilities in a second, much faster than human thinkers. Consequently, they discover patterns and relationships that we've missed, solve problems which are beyond our thoughts, process piles of data which we can't, discovering surprising answers to puzzles we couldn't solve. Big data, anyone?
Some of the predictions are a little off. People largely stop interacting directly with other people, using their teletotals as intermediaries. In which case, the languages spoken cease to matter. I can speak any kind of gibberish I like, so long as my teletotal can convert it into an intermediate format that the other person's teletotal can convert into their preferred language. Language translation is still a "hard" problem.
He describes evolution, where humans came to be dominant because of combination of favorable conditions and our ability to adapt. We provide the favorable environment for the great computer to evolve. And, as we surpassed the Neanderthals, the computers, ultimately, surpass us.
There are cautionary tales for those who become too dependent on technology. There is, ultimately, a question mark over our future.
If you're hoping for a Matrix-type tale of humans fighting the great computer, you will be disappointed. Quite the opposite. In this tale, humans become dependent on computers, largely give up control of most of their day-to-day lives to the great computer, nearly become extinct when some bureaucrats use their limited control to try to seize power, and ultimately develop the great computer to the point of being able to replicate and repair itself, such that the great computer (which has long since become a network of machines) can care for humanity without being controlled by it.
Written in 1968, it is remarkably prescient. The mobile device on which I'm writing this may be larger than the wristwatch-sized teletotal it describes, but the ability to contact others with it, access knowledge on demand, etc. makes it worthy of the title. The author describes how people no longer need to live in a city to buy things. They shop online, then press the "purchase" button and laser-guided drones deliver it to your door. Amazon, anyone? We'll have to wait for Jeff Bezos to buy some politicians before the FAA will approve the delivery drones, but I suspect that's just a matter of time.
Much of manufacturing is automated. Sound familiar? And with 3D printers able to make "custom" products to order, it's a bit like he predicts, where two people need not have an identical item unless they so choose. We're well on our way there.
The great computers are able to think deeply, testing millions of possibilities in a second, much faster than human thinkers. Consequently, they discover patterns and relationships that we've missed, solve problems which are beyond our thoughts, process piles of data which we can't, discovering surprising answers to puzzles we couldn't solve. Big data, anyone?
Some of the predictions are a little off. People largely stop interacting directly with other people, using their teletotals as intermediaries. In which case, the languages spoken cease to matter. I can speak any kind of gibberish I like, so long as my teletotal can convert it into an intermediate format that the other person's teletotal can convert into their preferred language. Language translation is still a "hard" problem.
He describes evolution, where humans came to be dominant because of combination of favorable conditions and our ability to adapt. We provide the favorable environment for the great computer to evolve. And, as we surpassed the Neanderthals, the computers, ultimately, surpass us.
There are cautionary tales for those who become too dependent on technology. There is, ultimately, a question mark over our future.
July 21, 2009
A satire in the form of a history paper or thesis from the future, with the general message that eventually the computers we love so much will no longer need us.
Generally a very dry read, with no characters and no real story to speak of. The cover copy promised rebellion from the Big Computer and a postapocalyptic world after the computers fail, but this was entirely misleading--no rebellion at all, and the computers and society is rebuilt after the crash.
An incisive description of telecommuting, cellphones, and what could be interpreted as internet shopping.
Generally a very dry read, with no characters and no real story to speak of. The cover copy promised rebellion from the Big Computer and a postapocalyptic world after the computers fail, but this was entirely misleading--no rebellion at all, and the computers and society is rebuilt after the crash.
An incisive description of telecommuting, cellphones, and what could be interpreted as internet shopping.
November 8, 2022
nyutgåvan är så sjukt ful
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews