6 ms·

William Gibson says the future is right here, right now

55 points by soitgoes 16y ago

Towle_ 16y ago
" Planet Express: Where tomorrow is today, and today is yesterday...you heard me."
grovulent 16y ago
Damn - I missed it. I'm always not paying attention when the cool stuff happens like... the future. Do you think the future might happen again someday? Perhaps we can put it up somewhere on the internet so we know when it's going to happen a bit before time.
- Towle_ 16y ago
  Do you think the future might happen again someday? Only if Jules Verne happens again someday. If he does, ask him. Nobody's ever matched that guy. Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications. Every self-proclaimed technology soothsayer there ever was can pretty much suck Jules Verne's dick.
  - rsaarelm 16y ago
    Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications. Didn't he just have a big cannon for the space travel, not actual rockets with continuous thrust instead of a single impulse that would reduce the human crew to paste?
- djm 16y ago
  You don't get it. What Gibson is saying is that, (1) The rate of development of new technology is speeding up and that, therefore, (2) Humans experience an increasing amount of change in their lifetimes. So, in a way, the future is getting here quicker. As an aside, I can't wait to read his new book. I got it when it came out and promised myself I'll save it as a luxury to read in between getting my startups product ready to launch and actually launching. I've had to cellotape it back in the Amazon box to ensure I stick to my promise.
  - arethuza 16y ago
    Why just focus on technological change? Sure our gadgets are getting better faster but there has also been a marked reduction (at least in these parts) of people trying to force change on others at the gunpoint or by dropping bombs on them. Places like the UK look rather placid and unchanging in many ways compared to say the first half of the 20th century.
    - djm 16y ago
      I might just be a hippy dippy technology wonk but I have a gut belief that most societal change results from technological development. If country A wanted country B to do X then it's ability to make it happen through violence will be limited by the willingness of citizens of country A to let it happen. That willingness will be affected by by the degree of how "alien" people in country B are to people in country A. TV, internet, increased population movement through technological change[1] and so on will decrease that alienness. [1] I mean both in terms of technology enabling physical travel of people from A->B and technology making a person's origin less important in where they can live during their lifetimes (for example, a programmer can go to work anywhere there is work - they are not confined by location other than by arbitrary things like visas)
  - grovulent 16y ago
    I was pulling the piss out of the headline more than Gibson (if Gibson at all) - it just reeks of journalistic superficiality - and is rightly parodied by the other commenter with the futurama quote. I mean - listen to the way gibson puts it: "The present is really of no width whatever," That's a much richer metaphor to my mind.
    - michael_nielsen 16y ago
      News headlines are typically NOT written by the author of the article. This is something I've heard many journalists complain about. To my knowledge, the Wikipedia article on Headlines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline ) is quite accurate: "Headlines are generally written by copy editors, but may also be written by the writer, the page layout designer or a news editor or managing editor." So Gibson probably didn't write the headline.
z303 16y ago
He covered some of the same ground in his talk at the Watershed in Bristol last week. A video of which is now available if folks want to watch http://www.dshed.net/william-gibson http://www.dshed.net/william-gibson
jacquesm 16y ago
Someone complained yesterday in #startups that they wanted to live in the future and that was exactly my response. You could have said that if you were born at any point in time but I think anybody alive right now that happens to be lucky enough to live in the developed world is already living in a time that science fiction writers wouldn't have trouble accepting as 'the future'. Gibson being one of the best in the field is a strong hint that others will likely agree with him. So many things that were 'distant future dreams' when I was a child are everyday reality right now that I feel as though the future is 'happening' at a faster pace than my life is progressing, it is overtaking me at a clip that I worry if I'll be able to keep up with the rate with which new technology is coming out.
driznar 16y ago
If you'd like to read a more substantiated account about the pace of development of modern society I suggest that you rather read this: http://hanson.gmu.edu/bigthing.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/bigthing.pdf
bitmage 16y ago
From the article: There was also another reason why setting a story in the present day is more attractive than looking into a future even half a century away. This was because, said Mr Gibson, using that setting would necessitate explaining away present-day problems such as global warming. "If I write something set 60 years in the future I am going to have to explain how humanity got there and that's becoming quite a big job," he said. Ouch.
mortenjorck 16y ago
Increasingly, I feel Gibson is the only futurist I can trust. This kind of interview normally tends toward breathless, buzzword-laced bluster. There's none of that here; I can barely even envision Gibson uttering the word "crowdsourced" with a straight face.
emilis_info 16y ago
What if it is not the things that are changing so fast, but our ability to reflect and think long-term that has nearly vanished?
ahi 16y ago
"The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed." Gibson in 2003. I reread Neuromancer and Count Zero this past summer. Still incredible 25 years later. I kept stumbling across tech cliches then realizing Gibson was the original.

55 points by soitgoes 16y ago

" Planet Express: Where tomorrow is today, and today is yesterday...you heard me."

Damn - I missed it. I'm always not paying attention when the cool stuff happens like... the future. Do you think the future might happen again someday? Perhaps we can put it up somewhere on the internet so we know when it's going to happen a bit before time.

Towle_ 16y ago
Do you think the future might happen again someday? Only if Jules Verne happens again someday. If he does, ask him. Nobody's ever matched that guy. Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications. Every self-proclaimed technology soothsayer there ever was can pretty much suck Jules Verne's dick.
- rsaarelm 16y ago
  Dude predicted we'd literally use rockets to literally travel to the moon at a time when literally the only common application of rockets was for fireworks; they weren't even reliable (in any/every sense) enough for military applications. Didn't he just have a big cannon for the space travel, not actual rockets with continuous thrust instead of a single impulse that would reduce the human crew to paste?
djm 16y ago
You don't get it. What Gibson is saying is that, (1) The rate of development of new technology is speeding up and that, therefore, (2) Humans experience an increasing amount of change in their lifetimes. So, in a way, the future is getting here quicker. As an aside, I can't wait to read his new book. I got it when it came out and promised myself I'll save it as a luxury to read in between getting my startups product ready to launch and actually launching. I've had to cellotape it back in the Amazon box to ensure I stick to my promise.
- arethuza 16y ago
  Why just focus on technological change? Sure our gadgets are getting better faster but there has also been a marked reduction (at least in these parts) of people trying to force change on others at the gunpoint or by dropping bombs on them. Places like the UK look rather placid and unchanging in many ways compared to say the first half of the 20th century.
  - djm 16y ago
    I might just be a hippy dippy technology wonk but I have a gut belief that most societal change results from technological development. If country A wanted country B to do X then it's ability to make it happen through violence will be limited by the willingness of citizens of country A to let it happen. That willingness will be affected by by the degree of how "alien" people in country B are to people in country A. TV, internet, increased population movement through technological change[1] and so on will decrease that alienness. [1] I mean both in terms of technology enabling physical travel of people from A->B and technology making a person's origin less important in where they can live during their lifetimes (for example, a programmer can go to work anywhere there is work - they are not confined by location other than by arbitrary things like visas)
- grovulent 16y ago
  I was pulling the piss out of the headline more than Gibson (if Gibson at all) - it just reeks of journalistic superficiality - and is rightly parodied by the other commenter with the futurama quote. I mean - listen to the way gibson puts it: "The present is really of no width whatever," That's a much richer metaphor to my mind.
  - michael_nielsen 16y ago
    News headlines are typically NOT written by the author of the article. This is something I've heard many journalists complain about. To my knowledge, the Wikipedia article on Headlines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline ) is quite accurate: "Headlines are generally written by copy editors, but may also be written by the writer, the page layout designer or a news editor or managing editor." So Gibson probably didn't write the headline.

z303 16y ago

He covered some of the same ground in his talk at the Watershed in Bristol last week. A video of which is now available if folks want to watch http://www.dshed.net/william-gibson http://www.dshed.net/william-gibson

jacquesm 16y ago

Someone complained yesterday in #startups that they wanted to live in the future and that was exactly my response. You could have said that if you were born at any point in time but I think anybody alive right now that happens to be lucky enough to live in the developed world is already living in a time that science fiction writers wouldn't have trouble accepting as 'the future'. Gibson being one of the best in the field is a strong hint that others will likely agree with him. So many things that were 'distant future dreams' when I was a child are everyday reality right now that I feel as though the future is 'happening' at a faster pace than my life is progressing, it is overtaking me at a clip that I worry if I'll be able to keep up with the rate with which new technology is coming out.

driznar 16y ago

If you'd like to read a more substantiated account about the pace of development of modern society I suggest that you rather read this: http://hanson.gmu.edu/bigthing.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/bigthing.pdf

bitmage 16y ago

From the article: There was also another reason why setting a story in the present day is more attractive than looking into a future even half a century away. This was because, said Mr Gibson, using that setting would necessitate explaining away present-day problems such as global warming. "If I write something set 60 years in the future I am going to have to explain how humanity got there and that's becoming quite a big job," he said. Ouch.

mortenjorck 16y ago

Increasingly, I feel Gibson is the only futurist I can trust. This kind of interview normally tends toward breathless, buzzword-laced bluster. There's none of that here; I can barely even envision Gibson uttering the word "crowdsourced" with a straight face.

emilis_info 16y ago

What if it is not the things that are changing so fast, but our ability to reflect and think long-term that has nearly vanished?

ahi 16y ago

"The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed." Gibson in 2003. I reread Neuromancer and Count Zero this past summer. Still incredible 25 years later. I kept stumbling across tech cliches then realizing Gibson was the original.