The Future Connectivity of All Things, Large and Small

A post by Patrick J. Kiger on the Discovery website asks if connecting everything to the internet (top men are working on this as we speak) is a good idea. I am sure it is. Who will benefit is another matter. I could see it bringing the internet to a crawl when everything decides to talk at once, either because of a programming error or because of intentional monkeying by a new gang of merry pranksters, or not so merry pranksters, for that matter. I can see whole server farms come crashing to a halt because the immense flow of data uncovers some fatal weakness in a data farming algorithm. I can see corporations internally crippled, and eventually collapsing because an overworked key programmer cracks under the strain of trying to keep his colossal master placated and running smoothly. The CEO, unable to comprehend what is happening will steadfastly deny there is any problem at all while the remaining inept minions will scurry around ineffectively trying to patch things up enough to keep the ship of commerce afloat, unaware that the vessel has cracked in half and nothing they can do will save it.

But these kind of disasters will be rare events, kind of like police beatings of innocent suspects, and mostly it will work smoothly and will be a great boon to mankind. Although with the way things are going I am beginning to wonder if my vision of ancient Egypt as an empire of high-technology might have some real basis.