15th April, 2009

We have installed a new digital dictation system in the office. Instead of dictating my work on little dictaphone tapes, my work is now recorded on the system's harddrive until my secretary types it.

I am astonished by computers sometimes. They seem miraculous. I can kind of understand how a steam engine works - someone could draw it on a bit of paper and i could understand the principles. i can see how someone would think it up. Similarly, I can even see how aomebody might conceive of a V2 rocket engine - I couldn't do it, but I can understand the mechanical principles - I can conceive of them at least.

But computers? I do not like to think of them too closely. They seem as dark and mysterious to me as alchemy. I cannot even begin to start to begin to imagine how someone might think of the idea. There seem to be no building blocks - just a miracle that is now commonplace.