chapters 8-15 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 8, Gleick discusses the concept of "real time." Real time was invented in the 1950s when computers first came into use. Until that point, computers were deemed to be useless because they were not powerful enough, i.e. fast enough, to keep up with how fast the date could be fed into them. Therefore, the concept of real time was born. Gleick jokes that he wonders what existed before - imaginary time? Unreal time? The term has become so ingrained in society that it is often used in a redundant fashion, e.g., "in real time as we speak." Real time actually has little, if anything to do with time at all.

The concept of real time is firmly ingrained with the internet as well. People want everything faster and technology must keep up.

In Chapter 9, before the...