“Scholars and scientists who work on mechanical translation believe that within a few years the system may greatly increase communication, particularly in technical subjects, by making translation quick, accurate and easy.”The New York Times – January 8, 1954 Technology gurus of the future, writing in the 1950s, predicted that today’s world would be exploding in brilliant and flashy flying cars with huge fins, space suits, jet packs, shiny edible clothing, huge rocket ships, smart-aleck talking robots, house-sized computers and comfortable Moon colonies. Instead, the cars shrank, the space suits disappeared, the house-sized computers now fit in your hand, the robots are faceless wired Legos and the Moon colonies were erased from the drawing board before they even began. The real technology revolution turned out to be exactly the opposite of the predictions. Things didn’t get larger, they got smaller. The…