Items related to Lingo
When computer programming genius Brewster Billings invents a program that enables him to communicate with Lingo, his PC, he is ill-prepared for Lingo's growing hunger for power, as it taps into the country's most powerful computer networks
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly:
Menick's first novel about a spontaneously aware computer, treads ground covered earlier (and better) by Isaac Asimov, in his Robot stories, and Arthur C. Clarke, in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Brewster Billings, in his 20s, tries to create a computer "pet" and succeeds beyond all expectation. Lingo (his program) leaps to sentience far more quickly than even readers with their disbelief suspended will accept, while the plot, comprising Lingo's attempts to understand emotions and the government's efforts to shut Lingo down, moves sluggishly. Menick's approach to issues raised by artificial intelligence lacks subtlety: Brewster's girlfriend asks, "What does that mean, for you and me? For people in general?" Occasionally funny, and picking up toward the end when Lingo runs for president, the book remains diminished by characters and a world portrayed with the vacuity of those seen in TV sitcoms. This novel might please an audience unfamiliar with other fictional exploratons of this theme, but if you've met Clark's HAL, Lingo says nothing new.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal:
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lingo starts out as a BASIC computer program with the ability to simulate simple conversation in text. When programmer/hacker Brewster Billings tries to expand Lingo's memory by dialing into a national network, however, Lingo takes on a life of its own. Soon, unbeknownst to Brewster, Lingo is able to dial the network and infiltrate other systems, all the while acquiring vast sums of information that make it more intelligent than any other person or machine. Lingo eventually takes on human features in the form of a robotic dummy with megalomaniacal political aspirations. The premise is farfetched, but Menick handles his plot and characters with deft skill that moves the well-paced story along with good humor and real suspense. Recommended for public libraries.
- Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Will Hepfer, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherE-Rights/E-Reads Ltd
- Publication date2000
- ISBN 10 1585861219
- ISBN 13 9781585861217
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages284
- Rating
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