William Gibson & Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine introduces us to an alternative world where we never discovered electronics, where computers are made of polished brass and powered by steam.
Sometimes I dream I’m living in an alternative conference universe. One where we’ve never discovered that people who travel thousands of miles to be in the same room with one another don’t want to spend most of their time listening to people at the front of that room. These same people try to talk to each other but are drowned out by loud music. And they never get to meet the five people in the room who could change their lives. It’s the conference Difference Engine!
Then I pinch myself, but I don’t wake up.
Uh oh.
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