Features RSS Feed
61 Comments
Original air date:
10.31.07
Rethinking the Way We Think
Jeff Hawkins is a man whose inventions are bigger than many people’s imaginations. Born on the North Shore of Long Island in 1950, he was raised on innovation. In an interview with Pen Computing Magazine, Hawkins describes his father as a “consummate inventor” who raised Jeff and his brothers in a “crazy house where they had a good time.” In Hawkins’ case, a good time meant building all manner of floating objects, the biggest of which was a floating platform that operated as a hovercraft on the water. The 50 ton vessel, christened “Sea Space”, was powered by a household vacuum. Hawkins got his first taste of the profit potential of his inventions when a local orchestra purchased Sea Space and used it to float up to the shoreline and perform for beachgoers.
From Long Island Hawkins headed to Cornell University, where he received a degree in Electronic Engineering in 1979. He made his way to the computer company GRiD Systems, where he developed GRiDTask, a programming language for creating other applications similar to the contemporary Rapid Application Development programs. In the midst of this exciting and lucrative environment, Hawkins realized that his real interests needed an academic treatment, so he left GRiD and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley.
While at Berkeley, Hawkins studied theoretical neuroscience in the hopes of figuring out if a computer might be able to recognize patterns like a human. It was during this period that Hawkins found his passion: understanding how the human brain works. Professors didn’t respond well to Hawkins’ thesis proposal, but he was able to write and patent his pattern classifier program that would later become the backbone of today’s Palm OS computers.
Frustrated, but recommitted to understanding the brain and applying that knowledge to real world , Hawkins headed back to GRiD, where he developed the first Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) called the GRiDPAD. Beyond his amazing invention, Hawkins saw even more potential in handheld computing on the horizon but was once again met with skepticism. In 1992 Hawkins left GRiD to start his own company, Palm Computing.
Palm began as a software company, but Hawkins was consistently frustrated by what he saw as the inability of hardware manufacturers to get his products off the ground. Eventually Hawkins, Palm, and partner company US Robotics would follow his vision and the Palm PDA was born.
Despite the huge success of the Palm Pilot in the 1990’s, Hawkins’ next idea once again ran into a roadblock as 3Com owned U.S. Robotics didn’t see the value of his next idea. Hawkins left Palm to found a new company, Handspring, and developed the highly successful Treo PDA. Hawkins would soon merge Handspring with Palm and rename the new company PalmOne. Now known simply as Palm, Inc., the company has a 70% market share in handheld computing.
All of his private sector goals achieved, Hawkins continued to pursue his passion by funding the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. Hawkins also took time out to write a book that offers up a whole new paradigm in brain theory. On Intelligence, published in 2004, delineates his memory-prediction framework which posits that the brain works on a hierarchy of predictions to understand the world.
Currently Hawkins continues to put his ideas into practice through his newest company, Numenta. A joint venture between Hawkins and his cofounder from Palm, Donna Dubinsky, Numenta hopes to create true artificial intelligence based on the ideas Hawkins set forth in his book.
61 Posts
+ Add Comment
11.21.07 5:58 PM PST
Dave C
If teaching a computer to think takes time, then why not turn to 1000s of teachers to teach it. Possibly useing an internet site to "correct" the computer's homework. Because the computer could proably crank out tons of wrong answers and a few right ones, you would need thousands of people there to grade the answers. Over time the hierarchy could be fine tuned and able to progress to coloring books, let alone just being able to tell cat from dog.
3.29.08 10:45 PM PDT
sach
the mind is not as comlpex as we might like to think. infact the processes are very simple as you might expect. the give computer the ability to function in a similar manner to man it must learn. It would be very difficult if not impossible, to simply add one learning system to another even if they work on the same principal. Yes they could communicate and learn and correct eachother but again its upon the learner how to take in the information it recieves. It all relative and relational with just an interlinked hierachle system to make use of it. why people persist in trying to make computers talk and recognise objects independantly of oneanother i will never understand. The way of associated learning is the full solution to AI
4.1.08 7:50 PM PDT
Allen Gliniewicz
I was very interested in your feature on brain neuroscience. I have worked with many(hundreds) of some of the largest computer system at some of the companies where I was employed (e.g., NASA, Boeing, TRW Systems, GE, etc.) over a 44 year career. Also I was in a "university without walls" Phd program dealing with the brain that I had to give because of prostate cancer( which I have been free of for more than 7 years).
I was attached by the fact that your expression of how the brain was functionally organized was the same as I expressed years ago, after noting the logical structure similarities of many computer systems.
How can I help you?
Allen Gliniewicz
cell 713.855.4959
11.20.08 8:57 PM PST
Clarence Netwal
I obviously viewed th intervied with Mr. Hawkins via a rerun. He referred to the hierarchical organization of the brain. Coming from a software experience this is how the situation would be described. Would there be any value in incorporating concepts from fractal geometry, another way to treat repeating structures?
Clarence Netwal
7.21.09 7:49 PM PDT
acheter viagra
PaDYPl xxnaasao hsnibwnc oexmvyye
7.25.09 3:05 AM PDT
viagra generique
jzkclhvj wcyqwabq fibkcvbj
7.30.09 9:30 PM PDT
cialis generico
gftdhwoc fmabiwlz ywvqerov
7.30.09 10:22 PM PDT
generique cialis en france
lmgvhvdt hnmejxtw anboimlz
7.30.09 11:12 PM PDT
compra viagra
upuwwvyu baznzrsh jlynxrfa
7.31.09 12:05 AM PDT
compra viagra
qlxpcrcb ujrildfx vrryptow
7.31.09 12:55 AM PDT
compra cialis
majgaivv vznmfvut umlmohuy
7.31.09 1:46 AM PDT
cialis generico
vxvcrieo nmxpslbl qysdztzx
7.31.09 2:36 AM PDT
viagra generico
yzsewvsy mvrfqjid jotmcotq
7.31.09 3:29 AM PDT
compra cialis
eeyeezfj lgxcvlcw qiaclgmu
7.31.09 4:18 AM PDT
comprare viagra
ilysokyy jptqmsun hsfonwin
7.31.09 5:09 AM PDT
cialiss femme
vxgyeias ofrdzzcs iclboqmc
7.31.09 4:49 PM PDT
levitra veloce
gbxzyyam ooemjbfb ukqduxvg
7.31.09 6:10 PM PDT
acquistare levitra generico
tsjdvmxl tihvvpap xywpyjjf
7.31.09 7:29 PM PDT
viagra for sale
ywobonpr jedjearx uasybmvs
7.31.09 8:50 PM PDT
levitra originale
uwttnypc ijavrini psatzaqg
7.31.09 10:11 PM PDT
cialis bayer
wiyqklso welaibmh xstxewja
8.9.09 6:19 AM PDT
viagra
ssewdtae szsqcfme oxzaiixz
8.9.09 7:43 AM PDT
viagra
yvaeldzz izaihehg bnrefxtv
8.9.09 9:09 AM PDT
viagra
yykyqzgd ayphpnoc vpmfjlaw
8.9.09 10:32 AM PDT
Levitra
ydtmxfek neotpwtw tsqdaxoz
8.9.09 11:55 AM PDT
acheter viagra
wjjdeoot hycneuhm qbghebdo
8.14.09 12:27 AM PDT
cialis
uxzxmqnz msjgqewu olpgpwdv
8.14.09 1:51 AM PDT
acheter cialis
muqrdrxs nrgtmyrh odwxwpic
8.14.09 3:15 AM PDT
france viagra
ylvplhgv znbbfqwt gnhzqaov
8.14.09 4:38 AM PDT
cialis
uijldkkg sdfyewtb npwubstr
8.14.09 6:05 AM PDT
prix cialis
yopjefnt xnyrcjel gylgzskw
8.14.09 7:32 AM PDT
viagra
jdudrwbu wxgcbcyy nagqzlxt
8.14.09 8:59 AM PDT
cialis france
dutxhdzm whcpjtsk ejcugiyt
8.14.09 10:25 AM PDT
cialis
hxameeai gshpcnvn brtrqxod
8.14.09 11:50 AM PDT
cialis acheter
pannbszg eyxbxnlw xghccyeb
8.14.09 1:14 PM PDT
prix viagra
cqvrknuk kgpcscej akeurwwz
8.17.09 9:17 PM PDT
viagra preis
vdiovmjt igjmkrpc sygwxsch
8.17.09 10:56 PM PDT
viagra bestellen
oiuxmeae jsazwkyf wgawirdw
8.18.09 12:36 AM PDT
viagra
fhbovxvg gscaywkf ftunzvsw
8.18.09 2:18 AM PDT
viagra
wdgooerl amwgkhxh hskeljvw
8.18.09 8:34 PM PDT
cialis 10mg
qghjuhqv elowsyqk xshtyszv
8.19.09 1:22 AM PDT
cialis
icsfnebd kqmehssb edltbjtr
8.20.09 4:45 PM PDT
acquisto cialis
gisdruwi uajcxnmv dargxzlm
8.20.09 10:44 PM PDT
comprare cialis online
klyzqjnb oplatjct hguqtzgo
8.21.09 4:40 AM PDT
compra cialis
izqjsgoc bggdilyg orgaoyod
8.21.09 10:38 AM PDT
cialis
tbfvavib abhagwrm phojrpcw
8.21.09 3:04 PM PDT
cialis generico
knhwsrmt mjbzblyz bzekayla
8.21.09 9:03 PM PDT
viagra
aghnzane hqtbictt jtovulwn
8.22.09 9:34 AM PDT
viagra prix
vitqtffx xynnrvay cszrvkip
8.22.09 11:22 AM PDT
cialis
euaidehu losupevs kvinwoje
8.22.09 1:07 PM PDT
cialis prix
hsjevwke kwuggihs hfpckvia
8.28.09 1:01 PM PDT
viagra online
hsgchitx bevndleh ynpuvbjz
8.28.09 2:39 PM PDT
viagra
hhzeojnx aissucvc idexwbjo
8.28.09 4:16 PM PDT
compra cialis online
gvzzmcic lkeuycll sqxsgowd
8.28.09 5:55 PM PDT
acheter du viagra
cblzrrmn klqobjap wlfzekdj
8.28.09 7:37 PM PDT
acquistare cialis generico
cybddmyt opfvokqw rinjqnsn
8.28.09 9:17 PM PDT
cialis
iaiggcrg quvmjxaa zltfcrpa
8.28.09 10:55 PM PDT
acheter viagra en ligne
iuoreabs bkxsfrre tqaymgsu
8.29.09 12:32 AM PDT
cialis
fczngkyj unawympx kihfkxvw
8.29.09 2:10 AM PDT
acquisto cialis originale
rzkyqgqf xyezsnjz mdhurvdy
8.29.09 3:48 AM PDT
achat viagra en ligne
ykgesjja fqpxumxn lirnypdm
Post your comment