PW Singer is a military analyst who gave a talk at TED this week, on how warfare has become open source. He discussed various technologies, mostly focussed on remotely operated equipment (including robots). Much of the equipment has video so you can see exactly what's going on - as if you were there. (For those interested, he has written a book titled "Wired for War" which discusses in more detail the move to technology and the potential effects of that.)

He discussed how a drone pilot can participate in the war in Iraq, remotely, and go home at the end of the day, have dinner with his family and discuss the kids' homework with them. He also talked about how disconnected they feel from the war, from the effects of what they do and how it feels like a video game to them.

Is this a good thing? Sure, lives are saved. Everytime a robot is destroyed, they are grateful there is no Mom in Idaho to visit with the bad news. But if the soldier is distanced is he really involved in the war? Does he see the faces of the people he kills? Is he sure he's even hit the right target? You can do dreadful things to other characters in Grand Theft Auto, and know "it's only a game". Is technology turning war into one large video game where no-one really cares and the score being kept is different for both sides?

How long before anyone can sign up to join the army, come home after work, and tune in to be a part of the latest multi-player real-time game?