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5\startdocument
6
7\StartIdea
8    [ title={Hans Hagen},
9     remark={PRAGMA ADE, Hasselt NL},
10        url={www.pragma-ade.com}]
11
12{\bfd \setstrut \strut TUG 2001}
13
14{\bfa \setstrut \strut A \TEX\ Odyssey}
15
16\blank[2*big]
17
18\startitemize [packed]
19    \startitem what way are we heading \stopitem
20    \startitem will there be documents \stopitem
21    \startitem is typography still needed \stopitem
22    \startitem are we still talking \TEX \stopitem
23\stopitemize
24
25\StopIdea
26
27\StartIdea
28
29Until now, the main source of information is books. In the next couple of slides,
30I will present some quotes from books I read the last couple of years, written
31by: Arthur \remark {Clarke} {physics}, Greg \remark {Bear} {psychology}, Graham
32\remark {Hancock} {journalism}, Peter \remark {Wilbur} {ergonomics} and Michael
33Burke, Jared \remark {Diamond} {history}, Edward \remark {Tufte} {design}, Peter
34Ward and Donald \remark {Brownlee} {biology}, Steve \remark{Reich} {music} and
35Beryl Korot, Richard \remark {Kadrey} {fantasy}, Brian \remark {Butterworth}
36{math} and of course Donald \remark {Knuth} {informatics}.
37
38\StopIdea
39
40\StartIdea
41    [ title={ed. David G. Stork},
42     remark={Hal's Legacy, 1997}]
43
44[Arthur Clarke:] Although I've never considered 2001 as a strict
45predict\-ion|<|but as more of a vision, a way things could work|>|I have long
46kept track, informally, of how our vision compares with computer science reality.
47Some things we got right---even righter than we ever had reason to suspect.
48Others, well, who could have \remark {known} {so, to what extent can we predict
49the future of documents}.
50
51[Summary:] much of the science predicted in 1968 is okay, but with regards to
52\remark {computers} {in this respect, \TeX\ is surprisingly up|-|to|-|date} a
53couple of points are missed: they have become smaller, \remark {AI} {and
54automated text processing is still difficult} is far from operational, natural
55speech, reasoning and lipreading are not really available, fault tolerance is
56there, we have lcd's, graphical user interfaces and windows, don't communicate in
57terminal messages, have mice and other means of input.
58
59\StopIdea
60
61\StartIdea
62    [ title={Arthur Clarke},
63     remark={2001, A space Odyssey, p. 66, 1968}]
64
65After a short walk through a tunnel packed with pipes and \remark {cables} {we
66are already going wireless}, and echoing hollowly with rhythmic thumbing and
67throbbings, they arrived in executive territory, and Floyd found himself back in
68the familiar environment of \remark {typewriters} {the good old times of \quote
69{think before you key}}, \remark {office} {indeed, most of today's users run
70\quote {office}} computers, \remark {girl} {everyone is now a typist} assistants,
71\remark {wall} {when will we go virtual} charts and ringing telephones.
72
73\StopIdea
74
75\StartIdea
76    [ title={Arthur Clarke},
77     remark={2001, A space Odyssey, p. 67, 1968}]
78
79There was plenty to occupy his time, even if he did nothing but sit and read.
80When he tired of official reports and memoranda and minutes he would \remark
81{plug} {documents will be in the air} his foolscap|-|sized newspad into the
82ship's information circuit and scan the latest reports from Earth. One by one he
83would conjure up the world's major electronic papers; he knew the \remark {codes}
84{who is using codes today} of the more important ones by heart, and had no need
85to consult the list on the back of his pad. Switching to the display's unit's
86short|-|term memory, he would hold the front page while he quickly \remark
87{searched} {we are very good in quick browsing} the headlines and noted the items
88that interested him. Each had its own \remark {two|-|digit} {aren't we running
89out of 256.256.256.256 already} reference; when he punched that, the
90postage|-|stamp|-|sized rectangle would expand until it neatly filled the screen,
91and he could read it with comfort. When had finished he would flash back to the
92complete remark {page} {will we keep on using composed mixed content pages} and
93select a new subject for detailed examination.
94
95\StopIdea
96
97\StartIdea
98    [ title={Arthur Clarke},
99     remark={2001, A space Odyssey, p. 109, 1968}]
100
101Bowman had been a student for more than a half his life; he would continue to be
102one until he retired. Thanks to the Twentieth Century \remark {revolution} {that
103has been a pretty quiet revolution then} in training and information|-|handling
104techniques, he already possessed the \remark {equivalent} {we will stop talking
105in those qualifications} of two or three college educations|=|and, what was more,
106he could \remark {remember} {with or without implant} \remark {ninety} {is this
107still needed with information everywhere} per cent of what he had learned.
108
109\StopIdea
110
111\StartIdea
112    [ title={Arthur Clarke},
113     remark={2001, A space Odyssey, p. 132, 1968}]
114
115The information flashed on the display screen; simultaneously, a sheet of paper
116slit out of the slot immediately \remark {beneath} {but aren't screens becoming
117like paper} it. Despite all the electronic read|-|outs, there were times when
118good, old|-|fashioned printed material was the most \remark {convenient} {good,
119because paper is a great invention} form of record.
120
121\StopIdea
122
123\StartIdea
124    [ title={Greg Bear},
125     remark={Eon, p. 30, 1985}]
126
127The office was neatly organized but still looked cluttered. A small desk
128manufactured from OTV tank baffles was flanked by chromium bins filled with
129\remark {rolls} {not much paper will be used in space, I guess} of paper. A
130narrow shelf of \remark {real} {that sounds pretty sad for around 2000} books
131hung next to \remark {racks} {will there be such a physical need} of memory
132blocks sealed behind tough, alarm-equipped plastic panels. \remark {Maps} {we
133will probably always need an overview} and \remark {diagrams} {and for that we
134need large projections} were taped to the wall.
135
136\StopIdea
137
138\StartIdea
139    [ title={Greg Bear},
140     remark={Eon, p. 132, 1985}]
141
142Still, she agreed with a nod and settled into the seat, manipulating the controls
143with one hand. A simple \remark {circular} {will we move away from rectangular
144presentations} graphic display \remark {hovered} {that's indeed what we want}
145before her, as crisp and \remark {clear} {good} as something \remark {solid}
146{even better}. Takahashi had misinformed her on one point, and her fumbling
147triggered a tutorial. It corrected her errors and informed her|<|in only slightly
148\remark {accented} {-)} American \remark {English} {what a pitty for dislectic
149people}|>|how to operate the equipment properly. Then it provided her with call
150\remark {numbers} {we really love numbers, don't we} and codes for other types of
151information.
152
153\StopIdea
154
155\StartIdea
156    [ title={Greg Bear},
157     remark={Eon, pp. 132/135, 1985}]
158
159The \remark {illusion} {physical presence will become less important} was
160perfect|<|even providing her with a memory of what her apartment looked like. She
161could turn her head and look completely behind her if she wished|>|indeed, she
162could walk around, even through she knew she was sitting down. \unknown\ The
163information had come in \remark {printed} {don't throw away eons of experience}
164displays, selected \remark {visuals} {will we keep on changing interfaces} and
165even more selected \remark {sounds} {we should have started recording already}.
166Where documentation of the multimedia sort was lacking, print took over, but with
167subtle and clear vocal accompaniment. Compared to this, simple reading was
168\remark {torture} {hm, \unknown} and current video methods as \remark {archaic}
169{eh, \unknown} as cave \remark {paintings} {let's be humble then}.
170
171\StopIdea
172
173\StartIdea
174    [ title={Greg Bear},
175     remark={Eon, p. 258, 1985}]
176
177\quotation {The P.M.\ has no suspicion of this when you alone were sent?} Toller
178\remark {picted} {finally ideographic scripts will win the game}. The symbols
179that flashed between the two men came from pictor torques around their necks,
180\remark {devices} {we really need an physical update} that had developed over the
181centuries in the Thistledown and in the Axis City.
182
183\StopIdea
184
185\StartIdea
186    [ title={Graham Hancock},
187     remark={Fingerprints of the gods, Graham Hancock, p. 120, 1995}]
188
189More systematically, all over Central America, vast repositories of knowledge
190\remark {accumulated} {as today in libraries, on servers and in our houses} since
191ancient times were painstakingly gathered, heaped up and burned by zealous
192friars. In July 1562, for example, in the main square of Mani (just south of
193modern Merida in Yucatan Province) Fr Diego de Landa \remark {burned} {and all
194can get lost forever} thousands of Maya codices, story paintings and hieroglyphs
195inscribed on rolled|-|up deer \remark {skins} {how about bits curled up on
196CDROM's}.
197
198\StopIdea
199
200\StartIdea
201    [ title={Graham Hancock},
202     remark={Fingerprints of the gods, Graham Hancock, p. 520/526, 1995}]
203
204We know that out late twentieth|-|century, post|-|industrial civilization is
205about to be destroyed by an \remark {inescapable} {not that imaginary, it has
206happened before} cosmic or geological cataclysm.
207
208We know|<|because our science is pretty good|>|that the destruction is going to
209be \remark {{\em near|-|total}} {one 10-30 km meteor or even one lunatic
210president will do}.
211
212\blank \unknown \blank
213
214I'm sure that we'd want to say more than just \quote {Kilroy was here}.
215
216\blank \unknown \blank
217
218And, yes, \remark {they} {pyramid builders 12,000 years ago} found an ingenious
219way to tell \remark {us} {who more and more think short|-|term} that they were
220\remark {here} {what will we leave behind}.
221
222\StopIdea
223
224\StartIdea
225    [ title={Jared Diamond},
226     remark={Guns, Germs and Steel, A Short History of Everybody for the Last
227             13,000 years, p. 260, 1997}]
228
229Human technology developed from the first stone tools, in use by two and a half
230million years ago, to the 1996 laser \remark {printer} {the ones that produced
231sticky fading print|-|outs} that replaced my already outdated 1992 \remark
232{laser} {and now we want color on the desktop} printer and that was used to print
233this book's manuscript. The rate of development was undetectably slow at the
234beginning, when hundreds of thousands of years passed with no discernible change
235in out stone tools and with no surviving evidence for artifacts and of other
236materials. Today, technology advances so \remark {rapidly} {so let's be careful
237in claiming advance} that it is reported in the daily \remark {newspaper} {less
238and less people read them}.
239
240\StopIdea
241
242\StartIdea
243    [ title={Jared Diamond},
244     remark={Guns, Germs and Steel, A Short History of Everybody for the Last
245             13,000 years, p. 418, 1997}]
246
247The decision could have gone to another keyboard at any of numerous stages
248between the 1860s and the 1880's; nothing about the American environment favored
249the \hbox {QWERTY} keyboard over its rivals. \unknown\ For example, if the \hbox
250{QWERTY} keyboard of the United States had not been adopted elsewhere in the
251world as well|<|say, if Japan or Europe had adopted the more \remark {efficient}
252{so why don't we take that one} Dvorak keyboard|>|that trivial decision in the
25319\high{th} century might have had big consequences for the competative position
254of the 20\high{th}|-|century \remark {American} {isn't \TeX\ also best tuned for
255english} technology.
256
257\StopIdea
258
259\StartIdea
260    [ title={Peter Wilbur \& Michael Burke},
261     remark={Information Graphics, Innovative Solutions in Contemporary Design,
262             p. 87, 1998}]
263
264It was generally \remark {agreed} {so let's judge with care} at that time that
265products which tried to fulfil two or more \remark {functions} {how many
266functions are there in a book} were compromises and therefore inferior to a
267single|-|function product.
268
269\StopIdea
270
271\StartIdea
272    [ title={Peter Wilbur \& Michael Burke},
273     remark={Information Graphics, Innovative Solutions in Contemporary Design,
274             p. 17, 1998}]
275
276All of this implies that design students of the future will need to have a much
277wider range of skills than most graphic and multimedia students possess today.
278The coming \remark {together} {which is better: overloaded CNN news screens or
279the more traditional ones} of typography, graphics, the moving image, sound and
280music requires training in both \remark {aesthetic} {let's hope for the best}
281judgment and technical skills, as well as the ability to implement and commission
282\remark {multimedia} {the current hype will become a decent craft} productions.
283Such a program hardly exists today, and it may be that \remark {designers} {or
284will machines do the work} of the future will find themselves on courses equal in
285duration and related in structure to those followed by architects.
286
287\StopIdea
288
289\StartIdea
290    [ title={Greg Bear},
291     remark={Darwin's radio, p. 271, 1999}]
292
293\quotation {As far as it goes}, Kaye said. \quotation {I believe our genome is
294much more \remark {clever} {let's hope that we can cope with the future} than we
295are. It's taken us tens of thousands of years to get to to the point where we
296have a hope of understanding how life works. \unknown\ The Earth species have
297learned how to anticipate climate change and respond to it in advance, get a head
298start, and I believe, in our case, our genome is now responding to social \remark
299{change} {like writing, reading, processing, collecting information} and the
300\remark {stress} {ability to keep track of things} it causes.}
301
302\StopIdea
303
304\StartIdea
305    [ title={Greg Bear},
306     remark={Darwin's radio, p. 404, 1999}]
307
308She looked at the cover and laughed out loud. It was a copy of WIRED, and on the
309brilliant orange cover was printed the black silhouette of a curled fetus with a
310green question mark across the middle. The log line read \quotation {\em Human
3113.0: Not a Virus, but an \remark {Upgrade} {or: complex talking & communicating
312in color, smell and taste}?}
313
314\StopIdea
315
316\StartIdea
317    [title={Edward R. Tufte}]
318
319We thrive in information|-|thick worlds because of our marvelous and everyday
320\remark {capacity} {that is us, now, or maybe until recently} to select, edit,
321single out, structure, highlight, group, pair, merge, harmonize, synthesize,
322focus, organize, condense, reduce, boil down, choose, categorize, catalog,
323classify, list, abstract, scan, look into, idealize, isolate, discriminate,
324distinguish, screen, pigeonhole, pick over, sort, integrate, blend, inspect,
325filter, lump, skip, smooth, chunk, average, approximate, cluster, aggregate,
326outline, summarize, itemize, review, dip into, flip through, browse, glance into,
327leaf through, skim, refine, enumerate, glean, synopsize, \remark {winnow} {do we
328really} the wheat from the chaff and separate the sheep from the goats.
329
330\StopIdea
331
332\StartIdea
333    [ title={Donald E. Knuth},
334     remark={Selected Papers in Computer Science, p. 95, 1996}]
335
336I believe that the real reason underlying the fact that Computer Science has
337become a thriving discipline at essential all of the world's universities,
338although it was totally \remark {unknown} {much more is yet unknown, but we don't
339know what} twenty years ago, is {\em not} that computers exist in quantity; the
340real reason is that the algorithmic thinkers among scientists of the world never
341before had a home. We are brought \remark {together} {there will be more new
342disciplines} in Computer Science departments {\em because we find people who
343think like we do}. At least, that seems a viable hypothesis, which hasn't been
344contradicted by my observations during the last half dozen or so years since the
345possibility occurred to me.
346
347\StopIdea
348
349\StartIdea
350    [ title={Brian Butterworth},
351     remark={The Mathematical Brain, p. 162, 1999}]
352
353Nevertheless, it is now abundantly clear that infants are born with a \remark
354{capacity} {what more is lurking there} to recognize distinct numerosities up to
355about~4, and to respond to changes in numerosity. They also possess arithmical
356expectations: ....
357
358\StopIdea
359
360\StartIdea
361    [ title={Brian Butterworth},
362     remark={The Mathematical Brain, p. 275, 1999}]
363
364Imagine, if you can, asking Archimed, the greatest mathematician of antiquity, to
365solve the equation:
366
367\startformula
3682a^2 + 3ab - 4b^2 = 0
369\stopformula
370
371\remark {He} {would your parents recognize \type {<tags>} as such} would have
372less chance than an average educated fourteen|-|year|-|old, simply because he
373would not know what the strange \remark {symbols} {or recognize hyperlinks} $0$,
374$2$, $3$, and $4$ mean because thet weren't invented till seven centuries after
375his murder; nor $+$ and $-$, German inventions of the fifteenth century; not to
376mention \remark {$=$} {or be able to interpret a regular expression}, which was
377invented by the Englishman Robert Recorde in the sixteenth century. He would also
378have had a problem with the \remark {idea} {or be able to picture the internet}
379that equations can have negative roots.
380
381\StopIdea
382
383\StartIdea
384    [ title={Richard Kadrey},
385     remark={From Myst to Riven, the Creations and Inspirations, p. 16, 1997}]
386
387Some of basics of the D'ni bookmaking are known, but the most important \remark
388{details} {can we still make Gutenberg bibles} have been \remark {lost} {how do
389we preserve what we have} over time. \unknown\ From the few existing \remark
390{records} {how much is really new} lost it appears that the D'ni have been using
391their Linking books for millenia, and that they \remark {linked} {then they
392manage their links better than we do} to the earth around 10,000 terrestial years
393ago.
394
395\StopIdea
396
397\StartIdea
398    [ title={Richard Kadrey},
399     remark={From Myst to Riven, the Creations and Inspirations, p. 81,1997}]
400
401Glancing at the surface of thing, {\em Myst} and {\em Riven} might seem more of a
402technical achievement in computer \remark {artistry} {for this a real new way of
403thinking is needed} and the fine points of modeling frames for objects and
404designing surface textures and shader programs to reflect hyper|-|reality. It is
405very easy to focus exclusively on the cool factor of what you see and to overlook
406what is the underlying key to the success of these games: they are \remark
407{story} {authorship will change} driven. What really sucks the player in is that
408there is a deeply felt {\em purpose} to playing the \remark {game} {and the less
409we need to work, the more we will game}.
410
411\StopIdea
412
413\StartIdea
414    [ title={Steve Reich \& Beryl Korot},
415     remark={The Cave, 1995}]
416
417The true underpinnings were our interest in making a \remark {new} {the time is
418ready for revolutionary new ways of presenting information} kind of musical
419theater based on videotaped documentary sources. The idea was that you would be
420able to see and hear people as they spoke on the videotape and simultaneously you
421would see and hear on|-|stage musicians \remark {doubling} {also accompanied by
422char|-|by|-|char typesetting} them|=|actually playing their speech melodies as
423they spoke.
424
425\StopIdea
426
427\StartIdea
428    [ title={Peter D. Ward \& Donald Brownlee},
429     remark={Rare Earth, Why Complex Life us Uncommon in the Universe, p. xxiv,
430             2000}]
431
432If it is found to be correct, however, the Rare Earth Hypothesis will reverse
433that decentering trend. What if the Earth, with its cargo of advanced animals, is
434virtually unique in this quadrant of the galaxy|=|the most diverse planet, say,
435in the nearest 10,000 light|-|years? What if it is utterly unique: the only
436planet with animals in this galaxy or even in the visible Universe, a bastion of
437animals amid a sea of microbe|-|infested worlds? If that is the case, how much
438greater the loss the Universe sustains for each species of animals or planet
439driven to extinction trough the \remark {careless} {like more and more paper}
440stewardship of Homo Sapiens? \crlf Welcome \remark {aboard} {but let's move on
441with care}.
442
443\StopIdea
444
445\stopdocument
446