This talk puts the eccentric absent-minded professor stereotype to rest once and for all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj8IA6xOpSk

by amichail • 18 years ago

67 29 18 years ago

This is wild, but terrific too.

alyx• 18 years ago

It is amazing and inspiring to see such energy and enthusiasm in another human being. I gave him a standing ovation when the video finished, not because he would care but because I had to show my appreciation.

dcurtis• 18 years ago

I felt a similar need to show appreciation that I have never felt before when finishing a video on YouTube.

rms2• 18 years ago

You could also buy a klein bottle!

http://www.kleinbottle.com/

ChaitanyaSai3• 18 years ago

He needs one of those nourishment pouches that adorn marathon runners. His will have Ritalin.

Also, listen to him and pay no heed to his ideas about the future; he wrote a book about why the internet was going to be a dismal failure.

daltonlp2• 18 years ago

I see the same false claim in a lot of comments - "That guy said the internet would suck, therefore he sucks".

That's not what Stoll said and wrote.

His articles and books (there are several books, all good reading) were written in response to the brainless hype that was so prevalent then. This was right in the middle of the dot-com bubble.

He said that pure technology won't solve human problems, and that we shouldn't assume more benefits than we can prove. He wrote that the internet doesn't do magic.

And Stoll didn't say "Hey, the internet sucks because I say so and I am me". He did some research and discovered that people have said the exact same stupid stuff about television, and about radio.

TV and radio did cause societal changes, but they never came close to living up to the grandiose claims made when they were new.

Stoll said "hey, maybe the hype about the internet isn't all entirely true either".

And he didn't try to tear down the whole internet as worthless. He tried to find some examples of things it couldn't do. Not just any things, but major things - things that if you screw them up, you really regret it.

Specifically, he claimed:

1) The internet can't teach kids to read and write.

2) Some types of human interaction don't work over the internet. And these happen to be some of the really important kinds of interaction.

That's about it.

If there's one thing I think Stoll may not be considering, it's the ability for human society and culture to evolve and accommodate.

I guess we'll see about that.

Right now, it's pretty hard to disprove the fairly narrow claims he makes.

greendestiny• 18 years ago

He wrote most of that well before the bubble. I think the interesting thing about his criticism is just how big the websites that solved (or worked on) his criticisms are - google, amazon, facebook, ebay, digg, wikipedia. I think its fair to say he had some fairly good insight into significant challenges to the web before most people saw them, he was just wrong to say they couldn't be solved (or lessened).

trekker7• 18 years ago

To add to your great post, here are some questions listed at a website for one of his books:

Does the internet really bring us together ... or does it isolate us from each other?

Suppose the network replaces newspapers, books, libraries, and teachers. Is that a good thing?

Who is hurt by computing & networks? (it's not who you think!)

Do computers and networks really belong in the classroom?

Why does the network promise so much, yet deliver so little?

Source: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~stoll/silicon_snake_oil.html

ChaitanyaSai3• 18 years ago

Research's always going to throw up some cautionary tales that the author will add as a caveat to not come across as a complete fool. Here are some of the claims he has made:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554

There's a specific claim here too: baloney to people buying books on the internet

I am not saying he's an Andrew Keen or a James Glassman, but he is a pretty middling futurist, which is to say he is no better than a coin flipper.

As for the idea that similar grand claims were made about television and radio and they did not pan out, well they weren't democratic media that allowed equal participation. This of course doesn't mean that the internet is the second coming of a virtual Jesus, but basing predictions on few archaic data in a dynamic environment doesn't make you a futurist, it makes you a bad historian.

cdr• 18 years ago

He puts on a nice act. No doubt he's had plenty of practice. And of course the TED audience eats it right up.

rms2• 18 years ago

He'd be a hell of an 8th grade science teacher...

maximilian• 18 years ago

He has these eery calm moments when he's focused enough to stop the twitching. Like when he was saying that to know the future of society, we should ask kindergarten teachers.

All my professors are just super smart and busy all the time. No time for absentmindedness for them.

daltonlp2• 18 years ago

That's a rhetoric technique. He can slow down and focus whenever he feels like it. The stage antics are great for keeping attention. When he slows down to make a point, it really grabs the viewer's focus.

It's the public speaking equivalent of using headlines and layout and typography to create a good reading experience.

Teachers (and comedians) do stuff like this all the time. His presenting style is pretty well developed, especially for being so loose :)

pmorici• 18 years ago

Maybe he as Aspergers syndrome like the character Jerry on the television show Boston Legal.

nickb• 18 years ago

Clifford Stoll on Internet: http://www.newsweek.com/id/106554

ojbyrne2• 18 years ago

Damn. Same thought, less karma!

ojbyrne2• 18 years ago

That would be the guy who produced this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=143333 It's fun to see him live having enjoyed his books.

TrevorJ• 18 years ago

That guy rocks. What makes me sad is I just realized I had a chance to hear him speak once and didn't know who he was and I didn't go.

noonespecial• 18 years ago

I like him. He must be a good teacher, whether his "act" is contrived or not.

When you do something the first time, its science.

When you do it the second time, its engineering.

When you do it the third time, its technology.

Brilliant.

bayareaguy• 18 years ago

Is there a transcript or summary of this anywhere? I just can't stand to watch or listen to this guy.

phony_identity• 18 years ago

That's an act and I don't trust him. For the real thing, watch Steve Wozniak.

This talk puts the eccentric absent-minded professor stereotype to rest once and for all.

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