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Everyone heard of that project that was dubbed "TeslaNet", right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardenclyffe_Towe

• xirium 19y ago
  Alternative tech history? We had a few opportunities. One was Wardenclyffe Tower, which proposed wireless time division multiplexed fax in 1902. We can only imagine the world today if such developments had succeeded. Likewise, the computer industry in the 1980s had some promising developments in massively parallel computing. This included wafer scale integration and parallel processor microkernels. In 1987, Sir Clive Sinclair was granted a patent for creating massively parallel, fault tolerant computing. Rather than making a wafer of chips then packaging and testing each unit, it is possible for processors to self-test and self-assemble into a working network. This would allow an eight inch wafer to be packaged with minimal additional steps. Furthermore, this would have been an asyncronous processor design. Microkernels, such as HeliOS could have been adapted to run on such hardware and the user level programs may not have required any changes. You may also wish to research the Meiko Computing Surface which used Inmos Transputers or the Connexion Machine. Unfortunately, none of these developments were compatible with Windows. Finally, if you enjoy alternative history, you'd probably enjoy The Gernsback Continuum from William Gibson's book of short stories, Burning Chrome ( http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/burning_chrome/ http://project.cyberpunk.ru/lib/burning_chrome/ ).