Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Computer stuff, and useless drivel

[Erik Nielsen (judge4re]

I'm just thankful I don't have to carry around clay tables and try and decipher cuneiform...

On Thu, Feb 12, 2015 at 9:29 AM, Rick Moseley <ramosel [at] pacbell.net> wrote:

My Brother!!

Once again you have distilled today's societal/technical woes into a few paragraphs.   Some deep thinking going on there my friend.  So I have a response in the form of a statement and a question.

A) retirement seems to agree with you

B) are you OK? I ask that is all seriousness and with genuine concern.

Moving on, Yes Unix, Linux, BSD will do just about anything the user chooses.  But over the years I discovered with these systems, there are generally at least 3-8 ways to get from point A to point B but only one is truly the method you want for the task at hand.  The wisdom is knowing which one to use.  Like "rm *" there is its converse (which I'll not post here) that has the opposite effect....  essentially it does a mkdir then a cd to that object and with the power of * you continue to repeat this process ad infinitum until you fill the file structure... thus wasting all the file space and bringing the system to its knees at lighting speed.  (oddly, spell check did not like infinitum).  

Your treatment of the "simple" pencil is quite elegant (to the non-engineers reading this, that is the highest complement one can be paid in the world of engineers)

My fear of the future is not so much that we wouldn't know how to make the pencil as much as we won't know how to USE the pencil.  I have a great nephew who is a wonderful teenage kid.  Spends most of his time playing video games and hopes to go on to a "gamer" school after he leaves high school.  He can text and tweet (and anything else you use your thumbs for) at the speed of light.   He is enthusiastic about all things technology!   I recently helped my sister and his parents out by getting him  a device he wanted for Christmas from a friend who owns the company.   He was thrilled and his dad asked how they could repay me...  I said a simple "thank you" would do.   I got a card in the mail that looked like a 1st grader had addressed it...  written in pencil, full of corrected mistakes... and a note inside which was all but unreadable!!  Honestly, a chicken could have done better.  These kids can't even USE a pencil, let alone MAKE a pencil.  And they've taken cursive out of the school curriculum??   Will everyone go to electronic documents with digital signatures?   Will people go to "craftsmen" who will design their electronic signature for them??   I'm getting old.

Rick

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From: Rick Lindsay via Ferrari <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
To: Rick Moseley <ramosel [at] pacbell.net>
Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 5:37 AM
Subject: [Ferrari] Computer stuff, and useless drivel

Just as we saw the concepts of CB Radio evolve into e-mail, then into Facebook, then into the Twitter-sphere, the observe tgat hardware has done the same. What were once building-size computing engines have evolved into hand-held or body worn devices. The purpose for the machines has also evolved. What was once the plaything of researchers, became a tool for scientists and engineers, then a utility for the masses, and now, an entertainment device. And as the physical and operating characteristics have changed, so has the ease of use.

In general, systems can be either versatile or they can be simple to use, but rarely both. Witness Unix, an operating system that can and will do about anything that a user chooses. That is its strength, but also its weakness. Anyone versed in the language of Unix (or Linux) knows the irreversible power of the command: 

rm * 

Because of its extreme versatility, Unix is a challenge for the novice to use. Ever used the editor called 'vi'? Its extremely powerful and once learned, especially after tactile memory is encoded into one's fingers, it can be very fast at file editing. By contrast, it is not WYSIWYG like Word, or similar.

Similarly, consider the simplicity of operation of an iPhone. The One Button was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron during the Second Age to gain dominion over the free peoples of Cyber-earth. In disguise as The Great and Powerful Waz, or "Lord of Circuits", he aided the Elven smiths of Silicon Valley and their leader Steven in the making of the Buttons of Power. He then forged the One Button himself in the fires of Mount Doom, California. One Button to rule them all, One Button to find them,

One Button to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

My wife considers the iPhone to be the best device ever. Its simple, powerful, and as long as you do things its way, it works great. Just don't try to make it work YOUR way. I find the device infuriating. All I can do is push THE button and make it light up. Then again, I am an Android user - the Unix of hand-held devices.

What if we evolve these concepts to cars? I argue the same idea. Once, cars were driven only by mechanics, people mechanically minded who not only could maintain the beasts but also, operate all the necessary bits! With the onset of synchromesh gears, auromatic transmissions, power assisted brakes and steering, etc., the beasts became easy to operate while maintenance was religated to a subservient class of technicians. In short, the automobile went metaphorically from a building-size computer, to an IBM PC on some accountant's desk, then... Continue the evolution to technical mindlessness and one arrives at cars that park themselves, apply the brakes and correct lane drift, because the 'driver' is too busy txting to see the 18 wheeler with which they are about to mate. The car may contact OnStar if they think you've had an accident. You are busy, after all. And then, while the driver is busy surfing the satellite radio channels, the car does a software update - because it can, since its setting on the internet (and reporting back the driver's every action).

I guess what I have spewed upon you this morning is my concern that simplicity has trumped knowledge, in most all aspects of our lives. My old dad once said, "I believe we are losing knowledge about as fast as we are gaining it." His follow-on argument went as follows:

Consider the simple pencil. Can you make one? Certainly all of us could find a way to scrawl the written word, but can you actually MAKE a simple little pencil? First of all, we all know the 'lead' isn't the metal lead but rather, a mixture of clay and graphite. Clay is pretty easy to find but can you find and mine graphite? If so, one then would need to carve dried wood into a long hollow shape, to hold the lead. One would then need to find, refine and extract the hydrocarbons to make the paint on the outside, reserving enough chemicals to make the synthetic rubber for the eraser. Of course, one could find a rubber tree, extract the juice and make a real rubber eraser. Then one would need to find iron ore, smelt it and form a steel band to hold the eraser on the stick. It is after all, just a pencil. Could you do all of that, and make a pencil? Do you have that knowledge? After all, we do know how to press the iPhone's single button.

So much for waxing philosophical this morning. I wonder if our forefathers pondered these same things about the changes in their days? Hummm... I used to think this was the stuff of science fiction. But as I have grown old, I've realized how prophetic sifi really is!

So here's my sifi offering: In a none too distant future, a global catastrophe occurs knocking out all electronic devices. The millenials of the day will all be wiggling their thumbs in front of themselves in the failed attemp to communicate 'OMG' to the millenials standing next to them - and failing. Silence will have happened upon the face of the Earth. Cue the spooky music.

-rick

Happy Connecting. Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 5

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