In the early days of the automobile industry, competition was driven by engineering. Faster engines, better suspensions, and more reliable cars won customers. But by the 1950s, something changed. America’s highway system had matured, and most cars were already fast enough for the roads people actually drove on. Competition shifted away from performance and toward … Continue reading
Tag Archives: The Flight of a Wild Duck
My memoir, The Flight of a Wild Duck, is now free on Substack — thanks to Claude Cowork.
https://avram.substack.com/p/the-flight-of-a-wild-duck-start-here It took me three years to write my memoir. The first year was spent doing research, the second writing, and the third editing. I enjoyed the process immensely. I had three audiences in mind while writing it. The first was people like me or parents of people like me who could not follow the … Continue reading
ChatGTP Reads my Book and Likes It
I asked ChatGPT to read my book, The Flight of a Wild Duck. That was fine—it did so in an instant. I then asked for its opinion. What it wrote made me very happy because it reflected exactly my original intentions. The Flight of a Wild Duck is remarkable—deeply human, intellectually rich, and uncommonly honest. … Continue reading
The early history of the Thoraxcenter
Fifty-five years ago, I moved from San Francisco to Rotterdam to join the staff of the Thoraxcenter, which became one of the world’s leading heart centers. It has been 50 years since I was last there. Nico Bruining, the current occupant of my previous position as head of the computer department, kindly invited me to … Continue reading
Living my life in reverse
My professional journey is unfolding in a way that might seem like living life in reverse. I started in medical science and weaved through technology before circling back to healthcare, moving from the USA to the Netherlands, then Israel, back to the USA, then Israel, and now the Netherlands. I went from English to Dutch … Continue reading
Here is an update on my quest to create an audio book using a voice clone
As I wrote earlier, many people requested an audio version of my book, The Flight of a Wild Duck. I was surprised to learn that many people prefer audiobooks. Audiobooks are the only segment of the book publishing industry seeing growth. While I wanted to produce an audio version of my book, I did care … Continue reading
What do I want to do with my last ten years of life?
I have been thinking about death a lot recently, and in particular, my death. It seems that you’re not supposed to talk about your future demise. It makes people uncomfortable. We appear to be in a conspiracy to pretend that we will live forever, even in the face of all the evidence to the contrary. … Continue reading
What would Steve Jobs have thought about the Vision Pro
The Vision Pro is most likely the first Apple product that does not have at least some input from Steve Jobs. Possibly he was not involved in any way with the Apple Watch, but since he passed away on Oct. 5, 2011, the Watch came out in Sept 2014, just three years after his death. … Continue reading
The Flight of a Wild Duck was published a year ago
My memoir, The Flight of a Wild Duck, was published a year ago. It took me three years to write; a year of research, a year of drafting, and a year of editing. While it was a lot of work, I found the experience rewarding. I learned a lot about the history I had lived … Continue reading
Will we still have microprocessors in fifty years?
The first Microprocessor was born 50 years ago (the Intel 4004). I suspect it would not have been possible to conceive of the possibility of the Microprocessor fifty years earlier back in 1971. It would take another 25 years before the first computer would be developed in 1945. Thinking about this made me wonder if … Continue reading
Two Thirds Done 