In When Things Start to Think, Neil Gershenfeld tells the story of his Things that Think group at MIT's Media Lab, the group of innovative scientists and researchers dedicated to integrating digital technology into the fabric of our lives.
Gershenfeld offers a glimpse at the brave new post-computerized world, where microchips work for us instead of against us. He argues that we waste the potential of the microchip when we confine it to a box on our desk: the real electronic revolution will come when computers have all but disappeared into the walls around us. Imagine a digital book that looks like a traditional book printed on paper and is pleasant to read in bed but has all the mutability of a screen display. How about a personal fabricator that can organize digitized atoms into anything you want, or a musical keyboard that can be woven into a denim jacket?
When Things Start to Think is a book for people who want to know what the future is going to look like, and for people who want to know how to create the future.
"An important story about why and how computers will disappear, when and where your things will think."
Nicholas Negroponte, director, MIT Media Laboratory
"Especially for technophobes, Gershenfeld's easy style and light use of technical terms make his book a fun and tantalizing glimpse into the world to come."
