Critical Review Proposal

 I am going to evaluate Arthur C. Clark's claim that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” as it relates to computers. I will do this by determining common characteristics of the category “magical items”. I will then assess whether computers fit into this category. I expect to arrive at the conclusion that they do fit the category. This will be a humorous essay, designed to leverage common frustrations and confusion with technology to help drive the point.

Some characteristics of magical items (and thus criteria for my analysis) are:

• Created through some unknown, hidden method, by strange people behind closed doors.
• Method of operation is not clear, even if the item is disassembled. Component parts appear to have little relation to function.
• Items vary in price depending on function, but all are fairly expensive.
• Magical items often glow.
• Magical items can malfunction when in the hands of an inexperience user. Only those who dedicate their lives to the study of magical items can use them to their fullest extent.
• When they malfunction, magical items often to so catastrophically.

And so on. I intend to back up my characteristics by using examples from popular fantasy literature, as time and space allow.