My personal computer software designs have been profoundly influenced by not only Buckminster Fuller, but also by several "pioneers."

Claude E. Shannon, in his 1948 paper, "A Mathematical Theory of Communication,'' formulated the theory of data compression. Many of the basic concepts underlying today's computers may be traced back to the late Mr. Shannon. Our senses evaluate the analog world, so the essential analog-to-digital-to-analog process he described provides the foundation for the digital revolution of the last half century.

W. Daniel Hillis, whose Thinking Machines Corp. was the leading innovator in massive parallel supercomputers and RAID disk arrays, continues to inspire as Chairman and CTO of Applied Minds, Inc. and co-chairman of The Long Now Foundation. His book, "The Pattern on the Stone : The Simple Ideas That Make Computers Work," put forth theories that continue to guide my every step in software development.

Favorites: The New York Times * The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk

The assimilation of new technologies often seems to me to be agonizingly slow. Most professional estimates I've read agree that it takes about twenty years. A good example of this is the internet's "killer app," email.

I began emailing in late 1994, but my wife had been utilizing email even earlier, during her military career in the late 1980's. I have mixed emotions about using the technology, based on our combined years of experience, mostly because of my recipient's views of email than of its "nuts and bolts."

The New York Times' Katie Hafner explores a part of the problem in her recent article "Why Doctors Don't Email." It's worth reading in it's entirety, but, in brief, while some 90% of patients would like to use email to communicate with their doctors, only 15% of doctors surveyed use email to communicate with patients.

The doctors who do not use email had some very rational fears. Yet, those fears were not borne out upon examination of the actual experiences of the doctors who did use it.

Perhaps the article will help the situation with doctors, but email still seems to be treated like a toy ... not to be used for serious, meaningful communication. The removal of spam, jokes, forwards and baby pictures from my email, in my experience at least, leaves precious little of importance in my inbox.

Favorites: The Buckminster Fuller Institute * Chautauqua * LuLu Press * Dan Bricklin * William Dunk