Where does all this get us?
As ubiquitous computing and what I call "emotional interfaces" become more common we will grow ever more comfortable with being constantly immersed in the datasphere. We will acquire, process, and disseminate information in much the way we breathe now...effortlessly. The interface will disappear as computers get smarter.
Efforts to "reverse engineer" the brain will probably not be as successful,
though, as letting the machine define its own path towards intelligence
and self-understanding. At a certain point a critical mass of processing
power, directed interactivity, and learning will coalesce into the ability
to share and extend one's consciousness via the machine.