Automation List :

The latest JimPinto.com eNews - No. 45 - May 31, 2001
is on the web at :
http://www.jimpinto.com/enews/may31-2001.html
Business, marketing & futures commentary.
New attitudes, no platitudes.

Contents:

* Whither Rockwell Automation?
* Neo-Luddites - Bill Joy & the Unabomber
* Extropy-5 conference - shaping things to come
* Patterns of success & failure on the Internet
* Phil Cerasoli's Poems
* eFeedback : V-shaped Economic Recovery,
Stock market short or long-term
Free online access to scientific information

Read and stay e-tuned....

Your comments and feedback are always appreciated!

Cheers:
jim
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Jim Pinto
Tel : (858) 353-JIMP (5467)
email : [email protected]
web: www.JimPinto.com
San Diego, CA., USA
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*Siemens purchase Rockwell Automation???* I'd like to see *that* get past the FTC. It's not that Siemens isn't salivating over this market, but they're so big that one has to wonder what they'd do with AB.

I fear that they would do for AB what they did with Texas Instruments: Take all the really cool stuff and push it to the side while they force square pegs in round holes, "merging" their product lines in to this market.

I wish Siemens would simply try to win this market on merit alone. I think they could do it. They don't need other product lines to die for them to do well.

As for Bill Joy, I have two words: fear-mongering. When humanity learns to modify genetic codes, it will change the very nature of what it means to be human. It <B>IS</B> frightening. But we have no alternative but to move forward.

If Bill Joy is so concerned about these developments, why doesn't he work toward making better political structures so that it won't be caught flat-footed when this technology becomes available? Fear-Mongering is a tactic of the demogogue. Bill Joy can do better. He can lead.

 

Jake Brodsky commented :

>*Siemens purchase Rockwell Automation???*
>I'd like to see *that* get past the FTC.

Jim Pinto responds :
It will pass FTC scrutiny - for lots of reasons.
In a flat and declining market, anything can be sold, for consolidation.

> It's not that Siemens isn't salivating over this market, but
>they're so big that one has to wonder what they'd do with AB.

Jim :
They'll take its market-share and its products, and a lot of good people will leave as they try to Germanize it. Typical pattern.

Jake :
>I fear that they would do for AB what they did with Texas Instruments:
>Take all the really cool stuff and push it to the side while they force
>square pegs in round holes, "merging" their product lines in to this
market.

Jim :
Right on, Jake ! Good model!

Jake :
>I wish Siemens would simply try to win this market on merit alone.
>I think they could do it. They don't need other product lines to
>die for them to do well.

Jim :
It's all a game of market-share and consolidation.

Jake continues on the subject of Bill Joy of Sun as a neo-luddite :

>As for Bill Joy, I have two words: fear-mongering.

Jim :
Bill Joy became famous (infamous) for this article. Read it!
And read the book that stimulated his response :
Ray Kurzweil's : "The Age of Spiritual Machines : When Computers exceed human intelligence."
You'll find a link to the book at :
http://www.jimpinto.com/reading.html#KURZWEIL
I am surprised that no one has commented on
The Unabomber Manifesto - Ted Kaszynski is an Engineer, and he thinks and writes like an Engineer.

Read the last eNews commentary and follow the oinks at :
http://www.jimpinto.com/enews/may31-2001.html
"Everything good starts with good Engineering" : Pinto 2001

Cheers:
jim
----------/
Jim Pinto
email : [email protected]
web: www.JimPinto.com
San Diego, CA., USA
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> I am surprised that no one has commented on the Unabomber Manifesto - Ted Kaszynski is an Engineer, and he thinks and writes like an Engineer.

Maybe he does, but that doesn't mean he makes sense. Engineering is not a goal by itself any more than the practice of law, accounting, business, politics, and even religion. They must work together or they won't work at all.

Ted Kaszynski is guilty of elevating certain concerns over others beyond all reason. Look where it lead him: Random bombing of people he barely knew.

Unless I took interest in the thoughts of a madman, I see no point in reading Kaszynski's diatribe. And I certainly wouldn't bother quoting such drivel to prove a point other than how madness works.

The retort to Kaszynski's actions is very simple: We can't turn back the clock. We can't even stop it. Bill Joy and others can say what they like about humanity becoming obsolete. And they may be right, for all I know. The point is that we can't stop the need for steadily improving AI models. We can't stop the need for more information and possible cures for genetic diseases.

We can, however, work out a political and legal platform of what we should do with this information and how we respond to the actions of others. But we will never get there by spreading fears of the unknown.