Dark Blue Monstropolis

Erik Johnston Unveils “The Next Evolutionary Step” for Smart Technology

Friday February 27, 2:00 pm ET
Tech pioneer releases new technology paradigm, following press conference at his headquarters; excerpts follow

SEATTLE, Feb. 27 /InterWire-PR Services/ — %ILINK:/ Erik Johnston /%ILINK. ended literally ten years of speculation by announcing today a new breakthrough in the use of existing artificial intelligence and quantum computing that promises to fundamentally change the way people and machines live and work together.

%PIC:/ Erik Johnston headshot.jpeg /%PIC.

“As much fun as it’s been to watch people everywhere–as well as the media–try and second guess what we’ve been doing here,” Johnston said today, “I’m afraid it’s nowhere near what the real fun is going to be. And that begins as of now.”

Johnston, 35, helped found %ILINK:/ Mutual Innovations Corporation /%ILINK. when he was only 19, using a new operating system kernel of his own invention. It was incorporated into %ILINK:/ mutualOS /%ILINK., which was released as open source onto an unsuspecting market in early 2076, finally breaking the stranglehold on the software market that %ILINK:/ Microsoft /%ILINK. had managed to maintain even with the onset of %ILINK:/ Linux /%ILINK. and other open source operating systems towards the beginning of the century.

However, displeased with the constant demands of stockholders and wanting to take technology in a new direction, he left the company he helped raise to industry domination just six years later.

“It’s with a deep respect for Mutual Innovations that I wish them the best of luck for the road that they’ve decided to travel,” Johnston said at the time. “However, I’ve done all I can here and I feel that we can take things further. Make things better. We’ve finally managed to shatter, once and for all, the idea that you have to hold onto your products to make profit and sue your customers when they demand–and get–more. We gave mutualOS away left and right and Mutual Innovations is leading the industry for growth.

“But I feel that this was just the warm-up. The main event is coming. This morning I’ve seen it. And, in fact, I scratched it down on my napkin at breakfast.”

%PLINK, VLINK:/ Erik Johnston 06072082 press conf.jpeg, vpeg /%PLINK, VLINK.

With that, Johnston held up the napkin and launched ten years of guessing and theorizing. Websites sprang up in response to the press conference, the most popular being %LINK:/ www.whatthefuckisonthenapkin.com /%LINK.. In an interview in 2084 conducted by the site, Johnston admitted that it was his browser’s home page. But earlier today, Johnston gave the site what it wanted.

“Our breakthrough is what we like to call heavy technology, or HeavyTech for short,” Johnston revealed. “It is not a replacement for smart technology, as many have guessed. Instead it’s like this: we have a positively stunning display of computer power on this planet. The basic simputer pack that most people wear strapped to the small of their backs is just a few TIPS short of what supercomputers were just a hundred years ago. And these packs have become for us what cell phones were for our grandparents.

“Tune into the Net with those, though, and all you get is noise. Search engines–they return noise. Even the best of them. They can’t work with you to get you what you want and, more importantly, they can’t work with each other. Companies can revamp the filters and the intelligence behind the engines, but you’re, in the end, dealing with just data–and not information. But HeavyTech changes all that. This is going to enable us to harness our computing power on a global scale.

“HeavyTech works with your existing computing power and lets us share the resources. The best way to think about it is this: once you are using HeavyTech, it will get to know you. The longer you use it, the better it will tailor itself to your needs and desires. Instead of blundering about the ever-expanding online world, it will be your ambassador to turn all of that raw information into data.

“And I’m not just talking about searching to get scores on the sport of your choice without wading through porn and I’m not talking about a bulletproof spam killer. Yes, that’s part of it, but that’s incidental.

“I’m talking about HeavyTech, using the cooperative computer power of a continent, let’s say, being able to process tremendous amounts of data, understand it, and take action based on what it finds.

“For example: install HeavyTech in our weather satellites–we have already made contact with %ILINK:/ NOAA /%ILINK. and given them a preliminary demonstration just this morning. Now with the pervasive nature of HeavyTech, I’m not saying you can necessarily control the weather–but you can control the conditions well enough to manipulate the weather on a grand scale. I’m talking about being able to process, in real-time, the massive amount of data that constitutes the global weather system and be able to quickly make decisions that affect the planet’s efficiency. I’m talking about the problems we’re seeing with the massive heat blooms on our east coast–what if you could counter that through an intelligent network which could manipulate conditions elsewhere on the planet so we stabilize our environment and prevent any further damage? What if you could create ideal dry/wet conditions in our heartland and increase the efficiency of our crop production? And not only in our heartland–what if we could work together to harness the inherent power of the planet and help support the nearly ten billion people we have living here?

“And,” Johnston added, “what if you could become part of the network? I’m talking about implants, yes, but not what you’re used to seeing. Implants these days are only for the very serious–because why go to all the trouble of sticking something in your body when it’s just easy to strap on a pack? It’s still expensive and you get no benefit but being able to be naked anywhere and still get online. Not that there aren’t benefits to doing that,” he added with a wry smile.

“No, what if we there actually benefits to having such an implant? What if your pack was something you carried around inside yourself–and knew you. Knew what you liked. Knew what you disliked. Could advise you anytime you needed assistance–basing its conclusions using parameters it’s learned from you to filter data from a world full of sources?

“In fact,” Johnston then said to the amazement of the crowd, “what if I told you I had such an implant in me right now? Let me patch into this external display and I’ll give you a demonstration.”