[geeks] Mac definitions (was: Smart phone data usage)

[Jonathan Patschke]

On Thu, 7 Jul 2011, Sandwich Maker wrote:

> " It'd be an unfair comparison if modern operating systems weren't
> " variations on 30-year-old themes.  This sort of junk is just change for
> " the sake of change, though.
>
> one could equally argue that modern auto operation was just variations
> on 120-year-old [or at least 90-year-old [0]] 'themes'.

Not at all!

The only real game-changers since the dawn of Unix on microcomputers are:
   1) Parallelism, as we know it today[1].
   2) Pervasive networking.

Every other hard problem I can think of (virtual memory, virtualization,
multiuser paradigms, scalable storage, memory-speed vs cpu-speed and the
design changes they bring) is more-or-less unchanged since IBM and/or DEC
first solved it.

The Mac UI is not fundamentally different from how it was in System 7.
The widgets are more colorful, sure.  The underlying OS is not
fundamentally different from modern NeXTStep.

That the majority of incompatibilities and user-hostilities stem from the
art department rearranging the user experience, while the Extremely Hard
problems are largely solved (for end-user-sized problems with
end-user-sized resources) is something that I find very offensive.  More
offensive than that, though, is The Steve's apparent intention to take the
computer I bought and turn it into an advertising platform for movies and
"Apps", while making it less useful as a workstation.

> and hacking via bluetooth won't be far behind, if they don't get the
> security word.

It's an antenna, transceiver, and vampire-tap away.  You can splice into
CAN with almost no disruption.  I would be surprised if law-enforcement
don't have such a device they can attach to an accessible wiring harness
while they're fitting the GPS trackers.

> soon will come the day when the black hat in the car next to you can
> shut your engine down, or firewall your throttle, mess with your brakes
> wheel-by-wheel, unpower your steering and/or brakes, lock you inside
> your car, or shift your tranny into reverse - on the highway.

Which makes my plan to find and restore a 944 all that more appealing.

> [0] 1st appearance of the modern steering-wheel-and-pedals was about
> 1920.  by 1930 it was virtually universal.  but the 1st mass-produced
> car appeared in the 1890s.

In that time there have been lots of game-changers: feedback fuel systems,
CV transmissions, independent suspension, the air/water cooling debate.
Yet, somehow the tools haven't fundamentally changed.  There are more
specialty tools, but a 10mm socket and screwdriver can get a whole lot
done under the hood of my truck.


[0] SMP and NUMA rather than attached processors, although I suppose a
     modern GPU is a wonderful spin on the attached-processor idea,
     especially given the excellently-fast interconnect.
-- 
Jonathan Patschke |
Elgin, TX         | "He who is contented is rich." -- Lao Tzu
USA               |