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From: VLSI@DEC-MARLBORO@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: re:  how can I fix my anti-grav aircar?
Message-ID: <4021@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Aug-83 10:12:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.4021
Posted: Tue Aug  9 10:12:00 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 11-Aug-83 02:13:20 EDT
Lines: 31

From:  John Redford <VLSI at DEC-MARLBORO>

I don't see increasing technological complexity as all that much of
a problem.  Or at least, it's no more of a problem now than it has
always been.  Face it, no one really knows the detailed workings of 
everything around them.  You may understand the innards of a '56
Chevy transmission, but do you understand FM radios?  How about air
conditioners? The chemistry of polyethylene?  The four-color printing
on the cover of your SF paperback?  And how do they get all those
little metal bits on a zipper to line up so well?
    No one understands everything, and no one needs to.  All you need
to know is the user interface.  Radios turn on when you twist this knob.
Zippers close if you pull on this tag.  Some interfaces, like those on
personal computers, are in such an embryonic state that they do require
some knowledge of the machine's innards to use it properly.  But soon
only specialists (like us) will care what goes on inside.  Look at the
computer interface described in Pohl's "Beyond the Blue Event Horizon". The
protagonist never touches a keyboard.  Instead, he converses with holograms who
act as counsellors.  His science advisor, for instance, is a hologram of
Einstein. 
    The biological world has already mastered this.  You don't need to
know about DNA to get a tomato to grow.   All that's necessary is a few
basics and perhaps a couple of simple trouble-shooting procedures, like
if the leaves start to curl up and turn brown, give the plant more water.
If some obscure problem comes up, like your tomatoes are turning blue
and trying to strangle passers-by, then call in a specialist.  A
system meant for common use should rarely need uncommon knowledge.

John Redford
DEC-Hudson
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