Lessons From the Largest Computer Ever Built

Locklin:

"The third and final lesson I’ll take from the development of SAGE: break down the problem into manageable pieces, and solve them. They used the technology on hand in the 50s; vacuum tubes, telephone lines and CRTs. They didn’t postulate any significant breakthroughs in order to get ‘er done. They made do with what they knew was possible As such, the path to success was obvious. Engineering genius came along the way. If you don’t have manageable pieces, you don’t have a real project: you have a wish. What are the manageable pieces needed to make “nanotech” or controlled nuclear fusion a reality? What are the manageable pieces needed to make quantum computing or deriving all electrical power from the sun a reality? I don’t know, and I don’t know of anybody else who does: therefore, such things do not count as legitimate long term projects."