4 ms·

As background: Charles Stross is a prolific science-fiction author. He's a smart guy with a lot of interesting things to say about the future of technology.

by samd 16y ago

dave1619 16y ago
He's definitely a smart guy and an excellent writer. Very insightful article.
raganwald 16y ago
Thanks, if I get back into fiction I'll look out for his work!
- ableal 16y ago
  Well, there's his documentary on industry best practices, titled The Jennifer Morgue, featuring "software billionaire Ellis Billington". (Possibly for legal reasons, it's billed as fiction ;-)
  - jseliger 16y ago
    This would have to be the first time I've read a novel that includes communication with the dead and demons summoned via pentagram as a "documentary on industry best practices." I thought such events only happened at Apple, and chiefly around leakers.
    - raganwald 16y ago
      I know what you're trying to say, but if we are talking about software development, I have very little evidence that "communication with the dead and demons summoned via pentagram" are practices that are any less effective than techniques in widespread use such as attempting to specify the entire program in advance of development, attempting to remove defects during a "bug fix" phase at the end, or attempting to make up for schedule slips with forced overtime and canceling holidays. ;-)
    - olefoo 16y ago
      You've obviously never been in the room when someone wants to "call in the consultants to wave a dead chicken over the database" on a floundering ERP project. Oh gods, the horror, the horror.
tfh 16y ago
He has written some great books about singularity like : Singularity Sky : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky Accelerando: (free ebook) http://manybooks.net/titles/strosscother05accelerando-txt.html http://manybooks.net/titles/strosscother05accelerando-txt.ht...
- sabat 16y ago
  He's a pithy writer, and he's probably right about Jobs' intentions. I do wish he'd drop that annoying British habit of referring to a company in the plural ("HP are ..."). It's distracting and flat-out bad grammar.
  - foldr 16y ago
    Relax. It's just a difference between British and American English. As for it being "distracting", it's not distracting if you're British. (And I expect it's no more distracting than certain features of American English are for British readers.)
    - eru 16y ago
      We should campaign for female companies. Like ships, or countries used to be.
    - dhimes 16y ago
      Thank you for explaining this.
- arethuza 16y ago
  Not to mention this rather dark tale: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm
michael_nielsen 16y ago
He's also an occasional contributor to HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross

As background: Charles Stross is a prolific science-fiction author. He's a smart guy with a lot of interesting things to say about the future of technology.

by samd 16y ago

As background: Charles Stross is a prolific science-fiction author. He's a smart guy with a lot of interesting things to say about the future of technology.

dave1619 16y ago

He's definitely a smart guy and an excellent writer. Very insightful article.

raganwald 16y ago

Thanks, if I get back into fiction I'll look out for his work!

ableal 16y ago
Well, there's his documentary on industry best practices, titled The Jennifer Morgue, featuring "software billionaire Ellis Billington". (Possibly for legal reasons, it's billed as fiction ;-)
- jseliger 16y ago
  This would have to be the first time I've read a novel that includes communication with the dead and demons summoned via pentagram as a "documentary on industry best practices." I thought such events only happened at Apple, and chiefly around leakers.
  - raganwald 16y ago
    I know what you're trying to say, but if we are talking about software development, I have very little evidence that "communication with the dead and demons summoned via pentagram" are practices that are any less effective than techniques in widespread use such as attempting to specify the entire program in advance of development, attempting to remove defects during a "bug fix" phase at the end, or attempting to make up for schedule slips with forced overtime and canceling holidays. ;-)
  - olefoo 16y ago
    You've obviously never been in the room when someone wants to "call in the consultants to wave a dead chicken over the database" on a floundering ERP project. Oh gods, the horror, the horror.

tfh 16y ago

He has written some great books about singularity like : Singularity Sky : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky Accelerando: (free ebook) http://manybooks.net/titles/strosscother05accelerando-txt.html http://manybooks.net/titles/strosscother05accelerando-txt.ht...

sabat 16y ago
He's a pithy writer, and he's probably right about Jobs' intentions. I do wish he'd drop that annoying British habit of referring to a company in the plural ("HP are ..."). It's distracting and flat-out bad grammar.
- foldr 16y ago
  Relax. It's just a difference between British and American English. As for it being "distracting", it's not distracting if you're British. (And I expect it's no more distracting than certain features of American English are for British readers.)
  - eru 16y ago
    We should campaign for female companies. Like ships, or countries used to be.
  - dhimes 16y ago
    Thank you for explaining this.
arethuza 16y ago
Not to mention this rather dark tale: http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm

michael_nielsen 16y ago

He's also an occasional contributor to HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cstross