Quite so. I was chatting with a fellow biker the other day, and he was telling me about why he sold his 2016 Honda Fireblade: many owners are experiencing a random (but terrifying) total loss of braking. Sometimes at speed, other times at 10mph in traffic, causing low-speed shunts.

The Fireblade and its smaller 600cc sibling use a Honda-designed fly-by-wire ABS system which is packed with pressure actuators and modulators. It's unique to those two bikes.

The rider applies the brakes, but rather than working in the usual way, the ABS ECU works out how much braking force the rider is requesting, then works all the actuators and modulators to a) apply the braking force requested and b) apply resistance at the brake lever to give feedback to the rider.

Unfortunately, it's not reliable, but Honda refuses to admit there's a problem despite hundreds of owners complaining. But it's telling that apparently, the latest models of Fireblades have quietly dropped the Honda system and now have a Bosch-designed ABS system.

You can programme a computer to be reactive - but can it ever be proactive?

Yes.

www.researchgate.net/publication/27293488_Proactiv...g

Like most professionals of my 'baby-boomer' generation, I had to learn computing 'on the job' as the years rolled by. A computer has no intelligence as such - it is merely capable of adding one plus one - almost unbelievably quickly. However, it has a fantastic memory. In contrast I, through no effort of my own, just happen to be highly intelligent but don't have a good memory. Together we made a great team.