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So a prediction that we would have tiny computers that we carried everywhere in our clothes and bodies is wrong because instead of carrying them in our clothes,

So a prediction that we would have tiny computers that we carried everywhere in our clothes and bodies is wrong because instead of carrying them in our clothes, we carry them in our pockets? Kurzweil's predictions relate to the level of computational power for a given cost and what we can do with that power. Just because my turn-by-turn directions come from my phone instead of a wrist-strap doesn't make those predictions less wrong. In the absence of iPods or cell phones, it's likely that sewn-in or wearable computers would be more attractive.

scott_s 17y ago
Kurzweil's predictions relate to the level of computational power for a given cost and what we can do with that power. Indeed they do. And there's an order of magnitude separating the computational power and cost of iPods from what we can currently incorporate into reasonably priced clothing. A friend of mine does research in the area of wearable computing. We're not at the iPod-in-shirt level yet. Further, if we don't hold predictions to what they actually said, then there's no point. We can always manufacture an interpretation in which the prediction is true.