Computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra invented much of software technology yet only used a computer for email and browsing the Web. He was still writing with a fountain pen when he died in 2002.
Dijkstra once told me that he would never consent to fly on the space shuttle because he didn’t trust the software that controlled it.
With the coming introduction of the Boeing 787, we’re all pretty soon going to be flying in craft controlled by software. Dave, an Airbus pilot who already does, explains why we shouldn’t worry.
But some still do, and, especially since the loss of AF 447, I must admit that I’m one of them.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 