Anyone wondering what BT may be selling to add value to a commoditised voice services marketplace and answer competition from the the mobile sector, especially once we've all got chips in our brains, only had to read this week's Observer. Yes, it's eternal life:
'If you draw the timelines, realistically by 2050 we would expect to be able to download your mind into a machine, so when you die it's not a major career problem,' Pearson told The Observer. 'If you're rich enough then by 2050 it's feasible. If you're poor you'll probably have to wait until 2075 or 2080 when it's routine. We are very serious about it. That's how fast this technology is moving: 45 years is a hell of a long time in IT.'
Paul,
Fascinating stuff... that would be great, electronic immortality. I'd love to bring your attention to the Methuselah Foundation - we're working on immortality of the different sort, combating aging. That way we could all live to when BT achieves its breakthrough. Check us out at http://www.mprize.org - this way we'll all survive and get to live in the future once BT gets the chips working.
Paul,
Would I be running on a Microsoft Operating System? Given the likely crash rate that doesn't sound too good.
Also - would the backups be ... me?
Check out Greg Egan - Permutation City - for a fictional exploration of this space (sans Microsoft)
And Douglas Hofstadter - Godel, Esher, Bach for a philisophical treatise...