From: Eugen Leitl (eugen@leitl.org)
Date: Mon Oct 21 2002 - 12:06:59 MDT
On Mon, 21 Oct 2002 Artillo5@cs.com wrote:
> I don't know about the rest of you, but I would LOVE a computer that
> acts just like a toaster. That is, it does it's job as soon as it's
> switched on, no waiting for boot-up etc. I think that upgrading
In absence of deployed MRAM I think the best you can do is using
LinuxBIOS, or a ready to go machine such as http://openbrick.org/
> computers should be as easy as plugging in a new "card", cassette or
> whatever (Atari 2600 anyone? LOL). Users should NEVER have to open a
A lot of modern cases allow the complete motherboard to be opened within
seconds by pulling upon a tab. The cards can be removed and inserted
equally simple, by using polymer latches and ratcheting plugs. In fact, as
conventional buses will eventually have to give way, we might be getting
encapsulated pieces of hardware mountable on a rail, or assembled by
stacking.
The upgradeability of a current computer is largely a fiction, anyway. The
incompatible 'standards' follow up upon each other too quickly. Components
get obsoleted so quickly there's no point in reusing them in the next box.
> case, configure software, or "plug & pray". I just don't understand
I've used true PnP in 1988. There's not much drive behind such important
projects as http://www.freiburg.linux.de/OpenBIOS/
> why hardware/software developers insist on making things difficult for
> the end user. I want my PC to be as easy to use as any other appliance
> or power tool out there. I spend inordinate amounts of time cleaning
The complexity is much higher. Also, the industry is used to a breathless
type of development, focusing on breathless featurism and faux innovation.
Users basically pick up the bill of shopping over price, list of features,
and a few numbers.
> up my PC, configuring, re-configuring etc. If they could improve that
> part of the process and make everything a seamless whole, then I would
> be a much happier camper!
Don't buy the latest and greatest, then. Buy from vendors which don't make
you jump through hoops. Though there's not a world of a difference,
instead of a Dell, buy an iBook. Iterate, and pick the vendors which
deliver.
> I realize that things aren't going to change overnight, and I hope
> that EVENTUALLY we will get to that stage, but it always seems like
> the industry is constantly bickering over standards and the like,
> worrying about their competetive advantage, instead of making things
> absolutely simple for the end user. Not to mention the uproar that
One of the user classes driving the industry are gamers. They're
relatively young, buy the bleeding edge, and are not interested in
standards nor in stability.
> will come when all of the IT professionals out there (including
> myself) who make their living fixing all of the problems with today's
> computer systems have to deal with their own obsolescence due to
> smart, self-installing, self-configuring systems!
That would be a good thing. Science and R&D could use lots more talent.
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