On Mon, 2008-04-07 at 09:36 +1000, Da Rock wrote: > As for computers; what really gets on my goat is that they're not put to > full use. We originally put men on the moon with them, we have games > that are semi intelligent that we compete against, and YET we still use > them simply as a typewriter or communication device. Yes, they can be > used as this, but they have so much grunt these days they could be doing > the mundane of our tasks in life. Stupid M$ has made our machines dumb, > and our computers still run as slow as they did under 3.1 with all the > shit they put in the software. > > Thats why SETI and other boinc projects can use our collective wasted > computing power as a supercomputer more powerful than one put to > dedicated use. Really seems silly doesn't it? We dreamed of geek houses > in the seventies and eighties, and still we haven't got there- and not > due to the lack of technology... I tend to sway the other direction. We're all too quick at throwing computing into areas where it doesn't really belong. e.g. Schools seem to think that putting a computer somewhere is the answer, never mind that personal teaching would be more appropriate. School's as much an exercise in learning social skills and doing what you're supposed to be doing, as it is in learning how to do math, etc. And what do we do with the students sorely lacking in social skills? Put them on a computer, often flying solo... Then there's the home situation. In days gone past, the most difficult technical thing anyone had to do at home was get the television to show a decent picture. Now we do have computers in media centres that make you jump through hoops to try and connect two devices together in a way that works. Digital video that doesn't work across different things because of imcompatible techniques (I hesitate to refer to them as "standards"). Recorders that forever blink 12:00 at you. Digital receivers that stutter and repeat where analogue receivers give near perfect results. Computerised washing machines that aren't any better than the old ones, even worse if you want to do something simple like repeat one cycle because something went wrong. And that Pile of Crap running Windows that spews viruses and spam around the world. Our leisure time has gone from enjoying the company of friends, reading a book, listening to music, watching a film, to spending lots of time and money maintaining a plethora of technology at home, or just putting up with it not working right. -- (This computer runs FC7, my others run FC4, FC5 & FC6, in case that's important to the thread.) Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists.
