[ExI] it was the best times, it was the best of times

[Tomasz Rola]

On Fri, 4 Oct 2013, Adrian Tymes wrote:

> On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 11:27 AM, Tomasz Rola <rtomek at ceti.pl> wrote:
> 
> > I can read until I faint but what can I _make_ , on my own, with this 
> > knowledge? To make, I need decent kb, some cpu and enough mem to 
> > compile.
> 
> 
> Careful with the programmer's hubris.  Not all - not even most - things 
> worth making, can be done entirely in software yet.

:-)

Please forgive me this programmer's hubris of mine, everybody.

But to be frank, I consider introduction of programmable computer to be on 
par with introduction of the wheel and writing. Especially when they met 
the so called Individual and started to be used by her/him for all things 
everydaily, big and small.

I admit I feel rather uncomfortable whenever I see a computing device with 
no means to make new software on it - to the point when I consider it 
broken, somewhere in the back of my head. To some limits, of course. I can 
easily live with knowledge that car's engine lacks onboard compiler and vi 
editor. But engine behaviour can be modified with proper combination of 
cable and software (if we're talking about relatively modern engine). 
Ditto for Windows desktop - it's quite easy to repair it from the damaged 
state it is being advertised and sold (well, to some extent - one cannot 
regrow a bonsai tree too high). OTOH there is growing class of devices, 
which require more work to undamage them - and I can smell there's quite a 
big group willing to make permamently damaged computers, and this makes me 
a bit angry. Because at the same time I keep reading about "PC death" and 
the like propaganda - sure it's not going to happen this year, but they 
keep saying this mantra, like it's something great.

> (That said, a general purpose laptop is more likely than a Kindle to be 
> able to be configured to, say, control a 3D printer or a drone.  But 
> that's not directly a result of memory, CPU, et cetera.)

I guess it can be successfully argued that 3d printer is best paired with 
CAD software. Including CADs already used in the industry, with their 
parts libraries and the like. This means, for about a decade (or a half), 
PC-class device. It doesn't need to have mem or cpu - I can buy those 
later :-).

> Quite.  Opportunity is wonderful for those who realize there is 
> opportunity and they should reach for it.  That is not, and has never 
> been so far as I know, the attitude of the majority of the human race.  
> Hopefully that may change in the future, as many more actually do have 
> opportunity (if they'll take it), but that is far from certain.

My take on it is that maybe not everybody should be Mozart. That would've 
been a nightmare. But I wouldn't mind a world where everybody tries, or 
rather, where everybody plays (this can be adjusted accordingly so the 
wish applies to other areas of life, too, so we don't end with billions 
of piano boxers).

Regards,
Tomasz Rola

--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.      **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home    **
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...      **
**                                                                 **
** Tomasz Rola          mailto:tomasz_rola at bigfoot.com             **