Thank you for posting this. I've never really read someone counter Ray Kurzweil directly, and, not having much experience in such matters, I have often taken what he says for granted. Thanks for the insight into the other side of the argument.

@monkey046: I wish I could promote a comment from a starred user. I guess a heart click will have to do.

@RoboticSpacePenguin: You win 10 internets.

That is wild.

@Alex Price: I'm reconsidering my hesitation after the WebKit example, because that's the only other open project Apple is involved in that I can think of at 1 in the morning, and to me it seems the project is going well. At least, I haven't heard any gripes about it and competitors use it as well, and WebKit has…

I don't think there's any dispute about the need for one universal standard, but should it really be Apple's? I mean, we've got a lot of options here, and I know Apple has claimed that their standard is open, but Apple has, erm, a bad history with "openness". Even though I generally prefer Apple products to Google…

@Deanb:

@PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:: In addition, DARPA predicts that this approach will increase their marketability with the media.

Although MIT's ability to accomplish this feat is certainly impressive, it is safe to say that nearly all of the teams involved expected the challenge to be complete in under twenty-four hours. The main potential time constraints (besides the obvious task of networking people around the nation, which I will hopefully…