He has a point, but it’s inevitable. Just like other machines become more abstracted and less open over time, so will computers. Remember when cars were simple mechanical machines? Or when watches were hand-wound and contained no circuity? Or when cameras were in a wooden housing with a manual shutter and gunpowder flash? Sure, these were all more “open,” and more interesting for tinkerers, but that openness is now gone as these machines became appliances.
Over time, computers will continue to “disappear” as they are more tightly integrated into devices. Despite how disturbing Alex may find it, consumers don’t seem to care too much. We continue to buy cars, watches, and other “closed” gadgets, including computers.
January 29th, 2010 at 10:48 am
He has a point, but it’s inevitable. Just like other machines become more abstracted and less open over time, so will computers. Remember when cars were simple mechanical machines? Or when watches were hand-wound and contained no circuity? Or when cameras were in a wooden housing with a manual shutter and gunpowder flash? Sure, these were all more “open,” and more interesting for tinkerers, but that openness is now gone as these machines became appliances.
Over time, computers will continue to “disappear” as they are more tightly integrated into devices. Despite how disturbing Alex may find it, consumers don’t seem to care too much. We continue to buy cars, watches, and other “closed” gadgets, including computers.