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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:The Digital way of working
Moderator:QUARK::LIONELON
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5321
Total number of notes:139771

1049.0. "Neural Networks at DIGITAL" by RTOEU::HSTOECKLIN (Blitzkrieg on IBM) Mon Mar 12 1990 10:58

    
    
    Here's a  I already entered in the NEURAL_NETS conference:
    
    A topic I'm wondering (worrying about) since a long time:
    what happens within DIGITAL concerning neural networks
    (sort of sixth-generation computer,non-von Neumann architecture,
    that's expected to become an enormous future market,presumably
    one of major parts in the computer market).
    
    What's going on technically(research,developing projects) as well 
    as on the business side?
    
    I'm afraid (really!) the whole company is sleeping(sorry)? Are we
    still going to sell minicomputers for the next twenty years?
    
    If I look into technical as  well as business publications I 
    can't find almost nothing connecting the name of DIGITAL to
    the topic of neural networks (but you can well find the whole
    bunch of its competitors like IBM,AT&T,SIEMENS and so on).
    
    I'm afraid that's not the way of controlling a huge future
    market but the best one to come to an end as a company!
    
    No visions anymore?!
                               
    Helmut	
    	
T.RTitleUserPersonal
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1049.1HPSTEK::XIAIn my beginning is my end.Mon Mar 12 1990 13:376
    Forgive me for being pessimistic, but I doubt there will be a big
    market for Neural Networks in the next twenty years.  I would be very
    interested to learn if you know any marketable applications at the
    moment.
    
    Eugene
1049.2a better place to askSHIRE::GOLDBLATTTue Mar 13 1990 06:435
    re. .0
    
    Try placing your note in NODEMO::MARKETING.  They're the ones who
    should look after the future of Digital's product set.
    
1049.3Here is another pointer, and more...TKOVOA::MIZUNOGarfield is my middle name :)Tue Mar 13 1990 22:3817
	Re.0:

	You may also post your note in ISTG::AI.
	As I recall there are some notes on Neural Net tools.

	Personally, I don't see any *useful* commercial implimentations
	in Neural Net technology yet.  Companies who claim to be using
	Neural Net technology in their products are using the techonology
	as eye catchers.  From many NN/AI researchers point of view, such
	products are just bogus!  I asked many NN/AI researches at various 
	international AI conferences and I got the same answer every time.

	Well, if that is a consensus amoung NN/AI researches, when will the
	NN technology be matured engough to set out as a commercial product? 
	5 to 10 years in the future is the most commonly accepted view.

							*Lucy*
1049.4EAGLE1::BRUNNERVAX ArchitectureTue Mar 13 1990 22:572
I'll start worrying about neural nets when we truly figure out how to
painlessly program for large MIMD arrays.
1049.5D'ont we miss the boat?RTOISE::SUPPORT_HSDon't marry, be happy!Wed Mar 14 1990 09:0617
    
    
    	Well, I do agree, that's nothing in the market yet, you
    	can take seriously.
    
    	What I'm concerned about is: we can be sure,that's all to
    	late, when things are proven.Nobody is able to buy know-how
    	then,whatever it might cost,because you can't buy it for money
    	at all (that's what I'm pessimistic about).
    
    	So, what happens actually within DIGITAL in terms of research 
    	projects,founding and so on?
    
    	Helmut 
    	
    
    
1049.6One exampleSCAACT::RESENDEJust an obsolete childWed Mar 14 1990 17:148
Well, I'll give you one class of application.

We're working with an ISV called Excalibur Technologies that has been working
with neural technology.  They market a number of products around pattern
recongition including text retrieval, signal and image recognition.  And
they're being quite well received.

Steve
1049.7Real ProductROXIE::TOGNONIWed Mar 14 1990 21:2014
    			Handwriting  recognizer
    
    I believe it was CNN's Science and Technology week where I heard that
    SONY had introduced a handheld computer/device that allowed a person
    to handwrite onto a screen/pad and have the information stored in
    memory in something like ANSI form. The device utilizes neural nets/
    fuzzy logic to recognize English and Japanese characters. It was 
    targeted at secretaries and court stenographers. I think they said
    something about being able to convert short-hand directly to long hand.
    
    Relying on marketing to predict when there will be a market for Neural
    nets seems awfully passive. Sometimes you gotta create the market.
    
    Keith
1049.8YawnLENO::GRIERmjg's holistic computing agencyTue Mar 20 1990 02:4219
   Nothing new under the sun (sic).

   Neural networks are computationally equivalent to traditional Von
Neumann model computation engines.  It's just that they can use more
efficient algorithms for certain computational jobs (feature recognition,
for example), than linear processors.

   So, if you have an interesting problem, which has a NN solution which
is efficient, great.  If the interesting problem doesn't have a non-NN
solution, it doesn't have a NN solution either.  Not quite so interesting
any more.

   Just goes with my thinking that more and more dedicated hardware will be
used in the future to address particular computing needs, esp. as the
algorithmic problems are becoming better understood and more applicable to
hardware design techniques...


					-mjg