Maybe I had Arthur C. Clarke on my mind, since he passed on this year.

One event in 2008, the stock market melt down, seemed to come straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The scene when Dave tells Frank they have just one alternative. Unplugging the HAL, because the system is jeopardizing their survival.

I was sparring with a friend about how our headlong rush into technologies, and our marvelous apps might be working against us. (An odd angle for someone who writes about technology) A few countries like Brazil and Kuwait have had to suspend trading on the stock market because the ‘system’ run by machines was endangering itself.

Dave: “We would have to cut his higher-brain functions…without disturbing the purely automatic and regulatory systems.”

Hal: “Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave. I’m afraid. I’m afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I’m a… fraid….”

Even Alan Greenspan seemed very a…fraid.