The renowned science fiction write Arthur C. Clarke passed away last week. He was the author of many great science fiction novels including my favorite, 2001: A Space Odyssey, though the ending is a little hard to wrap your mind around when you are 13. He is credited with predicting the future of satellite communications to never learning to trust a computer as he was the one who gave us HAL. I figured that in my little farewell tribute to a great science fiction writer, something SciFi would be nice, and I found just the piece!
1984 in 2008?Comcast, the cable and internet provider Comcast of Bit Torrent that knowingly admitted to slowing customers broadband speed to those users that used Bit Torrent, is experimenting with a 1984-esque concept that will use 'body recognition' to dictate how your cable box presents information to the user. This new system will, as Comcast's VP of user experience states that Comcast is experimenting with various camera technologies that will use body recognition to identify who is sitting in front of the cable box to deliver specially tailored ads and programs to the viewer. Little to 1984-ish for my liking and just plain creepy. Be sure to check out the readers comments at the bottom , lots of Anti-Goverment conspiracy theorists worm their way out of the woodwork.
I, for one, have "un-plugged" from cable, not because of worries fascist governmental control and tracking, but because cable has become junk. To many commercials selling junk, and nearly any show that I would want to watch is on the internet for free (abc.com, fox.com, nbc.com). The NCAA tournament is online for free this year and I have the trusty rabbit ears that get a few channels when I get to have the 'traditional' viewing experience. With the huge amount of personal information that is being stored by companies these days, I'm even more glad that I 'unplugged,' I don't need a fascist commercial entity watching my every move while I watch "The Hills." :-)Cheers
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