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Stories of the rise and fall of Silicon Valley's technology powerhouses are in no short supply. But John Gage doesn't get excited about the hype surrounding corporate icons like Apple, SUN, and IBM. The director and chief scientist of SUN Microsystems and Berkeley alumnus would rather talk about the interpersonal connections among individuals than corporate takeovers. "It's easy to read about billions of dollars being made in this or that. It's more interesting to me to hear about the intellectual communications between people," says Gage. Gage wrapped up the CyberSemester Speaker Series on April 30 with a talk titled, "The Ubiquitous Internet: Beyond Reading, Writing, and Money Machines." His lecture offered an insider's view of "life in the Valley" from one of the industry's premiere players. Gage also spoke of the origins of the information technology giant he helped found. "SUN came about because of meetings in Evans Hall (on the Berkeley campus) and Cafe Med (on Telegraph Avenue). The immediate understanding of two people and some coffee started what is now a $9 billion company." The computer as a desktop -- with files stacked upon one another -- is a powerful metaphor, says Gage, in part because it is one people can relate to. "My desk is a mess, and so are most computers," said Gage to knowing laughter from the audience. Gage stressed the point that the development of technology, along with the public's perception of computing, has made the use of computers so pervasive. "Computer aided design and virtual reality have made computers into sketch pads, places for intelligent drawings.... Computers are command decks that control a trillion dollars in currency transactions a day." But at the forefront of modern computing is the Internet, says Gage. The explosion of web-based search engines such as Netscape Navigator have made computers into hyper-linked books. People now see their computers as machines that take them to information, says Gage. Finally, computers are a place where people meet. "The Internet has made computers into a place to have a conversation," added Gage. "Right now this is still very ugly. You can have a good conversation by typing, but you still can't get the feeling of a good talk over dinner. That takes more bandwidth and that's coming." Gage closed his comments with some sage advice for future technological innovators. The fast moving world of technology will redefine parameters in the years ahead and make the inconceivable highly possible, says Gage. He encouraged his UC Berkeley audience to keep this point in mind when they develop the information technologies of the future. "Don't let your thinking get stuck by what is available today. Suddenly the boundaries between industries -- between telephones and television -- are going away. Things we thought would be very expensive are not." |
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