Floppy Disk Drives Getting Smaller
To complete this picture you need a USB thumb-drive on the far right.
July 26, 2008
July 6, 2008
Open Systems Can Be Built With Closed Systems
Even the worst of our closed platforms, the telephone system, wasn’t closed enough that the internet couldn’t be built on top of it.
June 27, 2008
The Heat Barrier
Technology improves at an overwhelming pace. The prospect of exponential growth has some people making fantastic predictions. Eg. “In 15 years, life expectancies will start rising faster than we age”.
I’m a big believer in the power of human invention. But I stumbled upon a somewhat sobering magazine article a few days ago.
CAN WE CRASH THE DEADLY FLAME BARRIER? (Oct, 1955)
Fly a plane fast enough and friction will melt it. Can we “put out the fire?”
As near as I can tell, the answer is “no”. In fact, it is my understanding that maximum airspeed has declined over the years. For example, the absolute air-speed record, 2,194 MPH, was set in 1976 with a currently retired aircraft. In 1976, we came up against the heat barrier, and could not break it. Since then, we have also retired the only two models of supersonic transport aircraft to see active service. The minimum time to cross the Atlantic is higher today then 20 years ago.
Now it’s certainly true that miles per gallon of fuel, and speed / gallon, have increased since 1976. This is almost certainly of more practical importance to the world. But I think it’s worth noting an example of a purly-technological dimension that has regressed with time. Not everything in technology “doubles every two years“.