Notes for the Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul - Rudy Rucker

Notes for The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, by Rudy Rucker
years ago. I was in the math club, and our group got a tour of the computing center at the
University of Louisville.
The thing that impressed me most on that first computer excursion was a large
mechanical drawing device --- they called it a plotter. The plotter was shaped like a sand
box; it was a square hollow frame four feet by four feet. In the middle of the plotter was a
bracket-mounted pen held in place by tight pulleys. The pen was supposed to draw on a
three-foot square of paper, but at the time of our visit the plotter was out of order --- nothing
unusual for computer hardware then or now.
Even though the plotter wasn't working, the idea of it stayed with me. By speeding
up and slowing down two little pulley motors according to some equations, a computer could
move a pen around to draw pictures. Some of the pictures were on the walls. I seem to
remember a spider-web and perhaps a mechanical drafting of a nut or a bolt. The friendly
white-shirted nerds who ran the computer center tried to explain how they used punch-cards
to feed simple equations to the computer that ran the plotter — but their explanations didn't
make any sense to me. The important thing was the visual evidence of the plotter: A
computer could control a device capable of generating smooth shapes. Computers were more
than punch-cards and teletype print-out.
In math class at that time — I think this would have been the eleventh grade —— we
were studying equations with things like cube roots, exponentials and polar coordinates. I
wished I had a plotter to play with, so as to quickly turn lots and lots of equations into
pictures. I also wished that I could understand how to use punch-cards to put equations into a
computer. I was hoping there might be a way to learn this without having to become a
complete Martian like the computer-center guys.
Intro: Why I Hate Computers
Computers are annoying. They require a huge amount of upkeep and then don’t
really work the way you want them to; they create endless make-work tasks; they strain your
body; they allow strangers to invade your privacy. They buzz. They’re ugly.
Working with computers isn’t quite like biting the head off a live chicken, but it’s
close. The thing is, computers are somewhat repellent. The first thing that the first computer
ENIAC did was to help design the hydrogen bomb. Computer cases are a dull, ugly shade of
beige. Computers are the tools of telemarketers, dot-commers, oppressive governments, and
digital snoops. Many of us have office jobs where using a computer is part of the daily grind.
The damn things never work like you expect them to for more than a few weeks at a time.
You have to constantly upgrade their software and hardware. Over-using a computer can
damage your hands, your arms and your back. They flicker and they make an ugly noise.
And so on.
Intro Bio: What I Use Computers For
For many of us there’s a few “killer apps” that make our machines indispensable;
these might include email, word processing, web browsing, games, database management,
spreadsheet manipulation, graphic design, 3D drafting or, for a few, writing computer
programs.
I often spend an hour in the morning on email, staying in touch with friends, family,
students, and colleagues, also sometimes answering questions from the readers of my books.
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