William Gibson says the future is right here, right now

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11502715

by soitgoes • 16 years ago

55 16 16 years ago

bbc.co.uk

Towle_2• 16 years ago

" Planet Express: Where tomorrow is today, and today is yesterday...you heard me."

grovulent2• 16 years ago

Damn - I missed it. I'm always not paying attention when the cool stuff happens like... the future.

Do you think the future might happen again someday? Perhaps we can put it up somewhere on the internet so we know when it's going to happen a bit before time.

Towle_2• 16 years ago

Do you think the future might happen again someday?

Only if Jules Verne happens again someday. If he does, ask him. Nobody's ever matched that guy. Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications. Every self-proclaimed technology soothsayer there ever was can pretty much suck Jules Verne's dick.

rsaarelm• 16 years ago

Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications.

Didn't he just have a big cannon for the space travel, not actual rockets with continuous thrust instead of a single impulse that would reduce the human crew to paste?

djm2• 16 years ago

You don't get it.

What Gibson is saying is that, (1) The rate of development of new technology is speeding up and that, therefore, (2) Humans experience an increasing amount of change in their lifetimes.

So, in a way, the future is getting here quicker.

As an aside, I can't wait to read his new book. I got it when it came out and promised myself I'll save it as a luxury to read in between getting my startups product ready to launch and actually launching. I've had to cellotape it back in the Amazon box to ensure I stick to my promise.

grovulent2• 16 years ago

I was pulling the piss out of the headline more than Gibson (if Gibson at all) - it just reeks of journalistic superficiality - and is rightly parodied by the other commenter with the futurama quote.

I mean - listen to the way gibson puts it:

"The present is really of no width whatever,"

That's a much richer metaphor to my mind.

arethuza• 16 years ago

Why just focus on technological change? Sure our gadgets are getting better faster but there has also been a marked reduction (at least in these parts) of people trying to force change on others at the gunpoint or by dropping bombs on them.

Places like the UK look rather placid and unchanging in many ways compared to say the first half of the 20th century.

z303• 16 years ago

He covered some of the same ground in his talk at the Watershed in Bristol last week.

A video of which is now available if folks want to watch http://www.dshed.net/william-gibson

jacquesm• 16 years ago

Someone complained yesterday in #startups that they wanted to live in the future and that was exactly my response.

You could have said that if you were born at any point in time but I think anybody alive right now that happens to be lucky enough to live in the developed world is already living in a time that science fiction writers wouldn't have trouble accepting as 'the future'.

Gibson being one of the best in the field is a strong hint that others will likely agree with him.

So many things that were 'distant future dreams' when I was a child are everyday reality right now that I feel as though the future is 'happening' at a faster pace than my life is progressing, it is overtaking me at a clip that I worry if I'll be able to keep up with the rate with which new technology is coming out.

driznar• 16 years ago

If you'd like to read a more substantiated account about the pace of development of modern society I suggest that you rather read this: http://hanson.gmu.edu/bigthing.pdf

bitmage• 16 years ago

From the article:

There was also another reason why setting a story in the present day is more attractive than looking into a future even half a century away. This was because, said Mr Gibson, using that setting would necessitate explaining away present-day problems such as global warming.

"If I write something set 60 years in the future I am going to have to explain how humanity got there and that's becoming quite a big job," he said.

Ouch.

mortenjorck• 16 years ago

Increasingly, I feel Gibson is the only futurist I can trust.

This kind of interview normally tends toward breathless, buzzword-laced bluster. There's none of that here; I can barely even envision Gibson uttering the word "crowdsourced" with a straight face.

emilis_info• 16 years ago

What if it is not the things that are changing so fast, but our ability to reflect and think long-term that has nearly vanished?

ahi• 16 years ago

"The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed." Gibson in 2003.

I reread Neuromancer and Count Zero this past summer. Still incredible 25 years later. I kept stumbling across tech cliches then realizing Gibson was the original.

William Gibson says the future is right here, right now

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