Category: History

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AI History Living

The Echo of the Roar

It is a strange sensation to look back exactly one century and see our own reflection staring back at us, sepia-toned but unmistakably familiar. We often think of the “Roaring Twenties” as a stylistic era—flapper dresses, Art Deco skyscrapers, and jazz. But beneath the aesthetic was a seismic technological shift that mirrors our current moment with an almost eerie precision.

In the 1920s, the world was shrinking. The radio was the “Great Disrupter” of the day. For the first time in human history, a voice could travel instantly from a studio in Pittsburgh to a farm in Nebraska. It was the democratization of information, a sudden collapse of distance that left society both thrilled and anxious.

“The radio brought the world into the living room; the algorithm brings the universe into our pockets.”

Today, we stand in the wash of a similar wave. If the radio brought the world into the living room, the internet—and specifically the generative AI of this decade—has brought the collective consciousness of humanity into our pockets.

The parallels in infrastructure are just as striking. One hundred years ago, the internal combustion engine was reshaping the physical landscape. The horse was yielding to the Model T; mud paths were being paved into highways. The very geography of how we lived was being rewritten by the automobile. In the 2020s, the “highway” is digital, built on cloud infrastructure and fiber optics, and the vehicle isn’t a Ford, but an algorithm. We are transitioning from physical labor to cognitive automation just as they transitioned from animal labor to mechanical muscle.

The Texture of Time

There is a specific texture to this kind of time. It is a mix of vertigo and acceleration. In 1925, the cultural critic might have worried that the “machine age” was stripping away our humanity, turning men into cogs on an assembly line. In 2025, we worry that the “algorithmic age” is stripping away our agency, turning creativity into a prompt.

But here is the insight that offers me comfort: The 1920s were chaotic, yes, but they were also a crucible of immense creativity. The pressure of that technological change forged modernism in literature, new forms of architecture, and entirely new ways of understanding the universe (quantum mechanics began finding its footing then).

We are not just passive observers of a repeating cycle. We are the navigators of the rhyme. The technology changes—from vacuum tubes to neural networks—but the human task remains the same: to find the signal in the static. To ensure that as the machines get faster, our souls do not merely get cheaper. We must decide, just as they had to a century ago, whether we will be consumed by the roar, or if we will learn to conduct the music.

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History

24 Years!

My personal blog was started twenty four years ago today: November 25, 2001.

The news that day included updates from Afghanistan after 9/11. In science news the biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) announced that it had successfully cloned a human embryo. News outlets reported that millions of Americans had traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday (the first major holiday since September 11) without incident.

Needless to say but I doubt I will be around in another 24 years to write about that anniversary!

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Black and White Friends History Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White

Special People: Robert Buelteman

A few days ago the Friends of the Atherton Library held a special speaker’s event with one of my favorite photographers, Robert Buelteman.

Robert Buelteman – May 2025

I first came across Rob’s work years ago when all of the a set of his beautiful black and white photographs were hanging in the Village Pub restaurant in Woodside. I always enjoyed seeing those photographs on the walls of the Pub – they helped set the mood of the place for me.

Those photographs hanging on the walls of the Pub came from a unique experience he had over the course of a decade when he had unusual private access to the lands of the Crystal Springs reservoir area – what he calls the Unseen Peninsula. Later he had similar access to the Jasper Ridge Reserve on the grounds of Stanford University. In other words, his images in this series aren’t of places you’ve seen before – because you’ve never been where he’s been!

(Unfortunately, a few years ago, in a change that perplexed me frankly, the Pub took down his work and switched to a more eclectic gallery group of photographs.)

Buelteman lives relatively close by over on the Pacific coast. One fall weekend I noticed he was holding an Open Studio event at his home so I headed over to meet him and learn more. He’s quite an originalist when it comes to sticking to film for his photography and eschewing any use of digital image enhancing tools. He prints his own black and white images in his home darkroom. He also has another whole separate body of work of very colorful and more abstract images based on an unusual technique he pioneered using high voltage to illuminate patterns in leaves and other natural materials.

During his recent talk at the Atherton Library, Rob told the backstory to his gaining access to Crystal Springs and of his many experiences exploring that otherwise off limits area. I very much enjoyed how he told that story!

Please be sure to checkout his work at his website where you can also add yourself to his mailing list to learn of future events.

Categories
AI Apple History iPhone

An iPhone in 1900?

This morning I was listening to one of Dwarkesh Patel’s latest podcasts when he happened to muse about why an iPhone wasn’t possible in the year 1000. A crazy idea or so it seemed to me!

But it got me wondering about that same question in years closer to when the iPhone was actually introduced in 2007.

I opened up Google Gemini (using the new 2.5 Flash model) and had a fascinating conversation. “A conversation like no other!” as Mark Halperin likes to say on his 2Way conversations.

Here’s the final result – after I asked Gemini to summarize the conversation a bit and put it into Markdown format for blog posting. To be clear, I asked the questions and Gemini did the educating and writing. Enjoy!

Building an iPhone Through Time: Why 1900, 1950, and Even 2000 Couldn’t Do It

We take our smartphones for granted today. These sleek, powerful devices fit in our pockets, connecting us instantly to the world, housing vast libraries of information and entertainment, and performing complex computations. But have you ever stopped to wonder what it would take to build something like an iPhone in a different era?

Let’s take a little journey through time and see just how science-fiction the iPhone would have seemed not so long ago.

The Utter Impossibility of 1900

Imagine walking into a workshop in 1900 and asking them to build you an iPhone. Their reaction would likely range from utter confusion to thinking you were stark mad. In 1900, the concept was not just difficult; it was fundamentally impossible.

  • Computing: The most advanced computing devices were mechanical or early electromechanical machines like punch-card tabulators. There were no vacuum tubes yet for practical electronics, let alone transistors or integrated circuits. Building anything with the processing power of an iPhone, even using room-sized 1900 tech, was unimaginable.
  • Display: Visual output was limited to mechanical indicators or basic light bulbs. The cathode ray tube (CRT) was still experimental. A high-resolution color touchscreen was pure fantasy.
  • Connectivity: Wireless communication was in its absolute infancy (Marconi’s transatlantic signal was Morse code). Mobile voice communication was decades away. The idea of connecting a personal device to a global network was beyond comprehension.
  • Storage: Data storage meant punch cards or paper tape – storing a single song, let alone thousands, would require a library-sized collection and complex machinery to read it.
  • Power: Batteries were bulky and low-capacity. Powering complex electronics wasn’t feasible for a portable device.
  • Size: Components were large, assembly was manual. Miniaturization to pocket size was impossible due to the fundamental physics and engineering available.

In 1900, an iPhone was not just science fiction; it was magic. You couldn’t build it because the scientific knowledge and engineering capabilities simply did not exist.

Closer, But Still Impossible in 1950

Fast forward 50 years to 1950. We’ve made incredible strides!

  • The transistor has been invented (1947), a crucial step beyond vacuum tubes.
  • Early electronic computers exist, albeit massive, expensive, and less powerful than today’s simplest chips.
  • CRTs are common (the television era is beginning), allowing for monochrome displays.
  • Radio communication is much more advanced, and early, very limited forms of mobile radio-telephony (like bulky car phones) are being experimented with.
  • Basic magnetic storage (tape, drums) exists.

So, could you build an iPhone now? Still impossible, but for slightly different reasons.

  • Integrated Circuits (Chips): The ability to put thousands or millions of transistors onto a single piece of silicon – the foundation of modern electronics – hadn’t been invented yet (that came in the late 1950s). Building an iPhone’s processor or memory still required assembling thousands of individual, relatively large components.
  • Miniaturization: While better than 1900, components were still too large and power-hungry for a handheld device with complex functionality. A computer capable of iPhone-like tasks would still be room-sized.
  • Display: While you could have a small monochrome CRT, it would be bulky and fragile. A flat-panel, color, high-resolution, touch screen was completely out of reach.
  • Connectivity: Mobile communication existed, but not in a cellular format, and certainly not for high-speed data like internet Browse. Connecting a personal device to a data network wasn’t feasible or even conceived of in the modern sense.
  • Storage: Storing gigabytes of data in a portable way was impossible.
  • Operating System & Software: Programming was done at a very low level, and the concept of a sophisticated, user-friendly operating system running rich applications on a personal device didn’t exist.

In 1950, you could build pieces of the puzzle (a basic computer, a radio), but combining them into a compact, interactive, networked personal device was still beyond the technological horizon.

On the Brink? The Year 2000

Now, let’s jump to the year 2000. We’re only 7 years away from the first iPhone launch. Surely, we could build it now? Almost, but still extremely difficult and not the iPhone as we know it.

By 2000, most of the fundamental components did exist:

  • Powerful Microprocessors: Processors capable of running complex software were common.
  • Color LCDs: Standard in laptops and high-end mobile devices.
  • Wireless: 2G cellular networks were widespread (GPRS offered slow data). Wi-Fi existed (802.11b). Bluetooth was available. GPS was available for civilian use.
  • Batteries: Lithium-ion batteries were standard for portable electronics.
  • Flash Memory: Available, but expensive and lower density per chip compared to 2007.
  • Basic Sensors & Digital Cameras: Existed and were being integrated into some phones/PDAs, albeit low-resolution.

So, what was still missing or not mature enough to build the iPhone?

  1. Capacitive Multi-Touch Screen: This was the key missing piece for the iPhone’s revolutionary interface. While resistive touchscreens (used with a stylus) were common on PDAs, large, reliable, capacitive screens capable of registering multiple finger touches were not ready for mass production and integration into a consumer device.
  2. Affordable High-Density Flash Memory: While flash existed, putting 4GB or more into a phone was still prohibitively expensive for a mass-market product.
  3. Required Chip Integration & Miniaturization: While processors were capable, packing all the necessary components (CPU, GPU, wireless, memory, sensors, etc.) so tightly and efficiently into a thin, integrated System-on-a-Chip required manufacturing advancements still underway.
  4. Mobile OS Optimized for Touch & Data: Existing mobile operating systems (like Palm OS, Windows CE, Symbian) were designed around styluses, keyboards, and less data-intensive use. An OS built from the ground up for a finger-driven multi-touch interface and seamless internet use (like iOS) didn’t exist yet.
  5. Network Readiness: While GPRS offered data, the speeds weren’t truly conducive to a rich mobile web experience. Widespread 3G networks, necessary for faster data, were just starting to roll out or hadn’t launched yet in many areas.

In 2000, you could build a smartphone (like a BlackBerry or a Pocket PC phone) – a device combining calls with email, calendar, and basic web Browse, likely with a physical keyboard or stylus. But the seamless, touch-driven, media-rich, always-connected experience of the iPhone wasn’t possible yet because the critical enabling technologies and the specific level of integration weren’t mature or affordable enough.

When Did It All Come Together?

The technologies that were missing or immature in 2000 converged and matured rapidly in the years leading up to the iPhone’s launch in 2007:

  • ~2004-2006: Capacitive multi-touch display technology became viable for mass production. Flash memory density increased and prices dropped dramatically. 3G networks rolled out more widely.
  • ~2004-2007: Apple internally developed iOS and perfected the integration of hardware, software, and the multi-touch interface. Chip manufacturing allowed for the necessary miniaturization and power efficiency.
  • 2007: The culmination of these advancements arrived as the first iPhone, combining these previously missing/immature pieces into a revolutionary product.
  • 2008: The App Store launched, solidifying the software ecosystem that became central to the smartphone experience.

Looking back from 2025, it’s incredible to see how quickly technology evolved. What was pure fantasy in 1900 became a bulky, impossible dream in 1950, a collection of nearly-ready parts in 2000, and finally, a reality in 2007. The journey of the iPhone isn’t just a product story; it’s a testament to the accelerating pace of scientific discovery and engineering innovation over the last century.

Categories
AI History Movies Nuclear Energy Nuclear Weapons

Pondering Leo Szilard’s Nuclear Vision in the AI Age

“His mind roams compulsively through the most lethal possibilities of nuclear explosion, leaving in its wake a new generation of horrific thoughts.”

John McPhee on Ted Taylor, The Curve of Binding Energy

The immense power unlocked from the nucleus of the atom is both awe-inspiring and alarming. Seeing Oppenheimer and brought to mind some of my reading years ago about the dawn of the atomic age.

The foundations for unlocking the power of the atom were laid by pioneers like Leo Szilard, who first conceived of the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, before fission was discovered. This insight into the potential for a self-sustaining nuclear reaction was critical for both later energy production and weapons development.

The phenomenon of nuclear fission was discovered in 1938 by German scientists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, with key theoretical explanations provided by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch. By splitting atomic nuclei, they enabled the process that Szilard had envisioned.

Alarmed by the the prospect of America’s enemies developing atomic bombs using fission, Szilard drafted a letter advocating for starting a nuclear program in the United States. This letter to Roosevelt, co-signed by Einstein in 1939, urged urgent research into nuclear fission for military purposes. This pivotal communication launched the American effort that eventually became the Manhattan Project.

A key insight from all of this history that jumped out to me is how little matter is actually converted to energy in atomic explosions – just 1 gram out of multiple kilograms of fissionable material. As noted by physicist Ted Taylor, this tiny amount of matter converted to energy was enough to destroy Nagasaki.

Taylor was a brilliant but controversial figure who helped design some of the smallest yet still devastating nuclear weapons in the early Cold War era. Writer John McPhee captured Taylor’s genius and contradictions in his fascinating profile The Curve of Binding Energy.

The stark reality of binding energies, unlocked by mere rearrangements of protons and neutrons, is both wondrous and chilling. Revisiting the origins of atomic science renews my hope that humanity will someday better master nuclear forces for peaceful purposes, while preventing catastrophic misuse.

I wonder what wisdom Leo Szilard would offer regarding our advanced technologies today. Had he lived to see the dawn of artificial intelligence, perhaps Szilard would once again urge us to ponder deeply the world we are creating. While AI holds potential to uplift humanity, he might warn that its risks could also lead to existential catastrophe if not wisely constrained.

I would wish that Szilard would be hopeful for us, counseling that with ethics and foresight, we could illuminate a brighter future, just as those nuclear pioneers dreamed before their ominous achievements. We owe it to ourselves to heed the lessons of the atomic age taught us by those men of history as we shape powerful innovations like AI to humanity’s benefit, not its ruin.

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History New Mexico Nuclear Energy Nuclear Weapons Travel

Visiting the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Update (July 2023): see my review of the Christopher Nolan film “Oppenheimer” based on the book “American Prometheus“ by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

While I was in Santa Fe in July, I took the opportunity on my way back to Albuquerque to catch my flight to stop by the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History again. This was my second visit – having initially made a quick visit to the museum in July 2018.

Roughly speaking, the museum is divided into three sections – two indoor (nuclear weapons and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy) and the aircraft and missile display area outside. The weapons section is the first part you walk through at the beginning of touring the museum. It describes the history of the development of nuclear weapons – including the race America was against countries like Germany and Japan to develop this technology. It also includes discussion of the famous letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt that led to the creation of the US national effort that became the Manhattan Project.

There’s an interesting exhibit that creatively recreates the scene at the Los Alamos Laboratory as this work was underway. I was particularly struck by the several old mechanical desktop calculators in the display – as the math involved in designing these weapons wasn’t perfected using computers but, rather, slide rules and these old calculators.

The rest of the weapons section includes examples a many nuclear weapons – including facsimiles of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan that led to the end of World War II with that country. As you walk through this display of weapons, it’s striking how they start out being relatively large but then shrink down in size to much smaller dimensions.

Outdoors in the aircraft and missile display area are examples of the Boeing B-29 used over Japan along with a beautifully preserved Boeing B-52 and also a Boeing B-47. There are a number of smaller aircraft as well – along with a replica to the tower used at the Trinity test site in New Mexico where the first test of an atomic weapon was conducted.

I’ve visited this museum twice and learned new things each time. On my recent visit, they were showing a film about the B-52 bomber which was quite interesting. I didn’t know that back in the 1950’s General Curtis LeMay (heading up the Strategic Air Command) had B-52’s in the air constantly that were armed with nuclear weapons and flew toward the Soviet Union only to then turn back and return. Only after a couple of nasty accidents involving aircraft crashes with nuclear weapons on-board did this practice moderate.

The other thing I learned about Albuquerque is what a nuclear city it is. Just a few miles from the museum site is one of the largest storage sites for nuclear weapons in the world – something called the Kirtland Underground Munitions Maintenance and Storage Complex (KUMMSC) where the US stores nuclear weapons – most waiting to be removed from service and disassembled.

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History New York City

The Greatest Days in New York

Central Park West - New York City - 2013

I’ve been continuing viewing Ric Burns’ New York documentary – and am now up to Episode 7 – The City and the World (1945-2000) – on Amazon Prime Instant Video.

A few minutes into this episode, David McCullough comments that if he could pick a time to be in New York, it would be at the end of World War II – in the spring of 1946 when the American troops were coming home from Europe on the great ocean liners like the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary – twice a month ferrying troops back into New York City.

Ray Suarez comments that the thing about New York is that there isn’t just one thing. It’s vibrant. Pete Hamill notes that it was then still a manufacturing town. Proud guys, working guys, but troubles ahead. While New York comes out of the war on top, other forces are at work. LaGuardia ends up dying of pancreatic cancer at 64 years old – after 12 years as mayor. And the changes begin.

The back story about Robert Moses – and his beginnings described in Episode 6 – is fascinating. Robert Caro, author of “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York” about Moses provides great commentary during both episodes.

I’ve got an old used book copy of The Power Broker on the bookshelf behind me. Seems like a particularly good time to pick it back up and re-read once again before I head to New York again in June.

I’m only now coming up to the description of building the UN headquarters building in New York. So much more…

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Current Affairs History Living Photography Photography - Canon 5D Mark II San Francisco/California

Memorial Day 2013 – Freedom Is Not Free

Freedom is not Free - Golden Gate National Cemetery - 2009

On this beautiful Memorial Day morning, I’ve been looking back at some of the earlier Memorial Days I’ve written about here.

Last year, I was reminded by the pastor at my Mom’s church that Memorial Day was first called Decoration Day – that it dates back to just after the Civil War and was a commemoration of the soldiers who died in that war.

Again today we remember both those who sacrificed their lives in service to our country as well as memories of those close to us.

According to Wikipedia, “Freedom Is Not Free” was first coined by retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, Walter Hitchcock, of New Mexico Military Institute and “expresses gratitude for the service of members of the military, implicitly stating that the freedoms enjoyed by many citizens in many democracies are only possible through the voluntary risks taken and sacrifices made by those in military. The saying is often used to convey respect specifically to those who gave their lives in defense of freedom.”

Once again this year, we remember them. Never forget.

The image above is from Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California – taken on an early January morning in 2009. Had it been taken on Memorial Day, small American flags would have been placed in front of each of the headstones – we can see them in our mind’s eye.

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History Living Norway Travel

Happy Father’s Day 2012

20120617-065939.jpg

Even though Father’s Day is one of those “Hallmark Holidays”, it got me remembering this morning that ten years ago, in 2002, we took a wonderful family vacation to Norway – and to the original Loftesnes (spelled with just one ‘s’ on the end over there) homestead.

On June 18, 2002, we took a high speed ferry from Bergen to Sogndal – about a three hour ride up the largest fjord in Norway. A beautiful trip indeed! This photo shows my Dad (age 80) and me out on the bow of the ferry after we docked in Sogndal. Brings back lots of great memories about what a great Dad (and proud Granddad) he was.

Over the next few days, we toured the area around Sogndal and he had such a great time – his first trip to Norway. One of my best memories is sitting out on the lawn at our hotel watching the bonfires around the Sognefjord burn late on Midsummer evening. Dad was in his element!

Dad passed away just over two years ago and we miss him every day! He was especially one from the greatest generation!

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Black and White Current Affairs History Living Photography Photography - Black & White

Memorial Day 2012 – Freedom Is Not Free

In the Snow - Korean War Veterans Memorial - 2005

On this beautiful late May evening, I’ve been looking back at other Memorial Days I’ve written about. At church with my Mom yesterday, I was reminded by the pastor that Memorial Day was first called Decoration Day – it dates back to just after the Civil War and was a commemoration of the soldiers who died in that war.

Today, we remember both those who sacrificed their lives in service to our country as well as memories of those close to us.

The image above is of the Korean War Veterans Memorial on The Mall in Washington, DC. It was taken in the middle of a late February 2005 snowfall by our daughter on a school trip. American soldiers on patrol.

Engraved into a wall of the memorial are the words: “Freedom Is Not Free”.

Indeed. Never forget.