[rescue] spam WPOISON

[Dave McGuire]

On Tuesday, September 9, 2003, at 12:54 PM, Francisco Javier 
Mesa-Martinez wrote:
>>>>   Computers aren't object-oriented things.  While I do like
>>>> object-oriented programming, it simply doesn't map well to the
>>>> underlying hardware.
>>>
>>> What if the underlieing hardware is a ixp432, or FPGA work-a-like?
>>
>>    I think you mean iAPX432.  Dude, they sold like EIGHT of those
>> chipsets.
>
> Which begs the question: Why on earth would any one want to do 
> something
> like the 432?

   Because it's *something different*...you of all people should know 
this.  The vast majority of processor architectures that have sprung up 
in the past 30 years have been variations on the very same tired theme.

   The machines we're using today haven't been evolving since the 
1940s...they've been evolving since 1969, from the i4004 that Intel 
developed to be a desktop calculator.  EVERYTHING we've seen since 
then, except for minicomputers (which aren't being developed anymore) 
and mainframes (which, no matter how fast or how modern they are, are 
still regarded by some fools as "obsolete" because they don't run 
Windows) has evolved from that basic design.

   I applaud the iAPX432 because it was innovative.  Simply following 
along with what everyone else has done is easier...but what if someone 
whom you're copying made a mistake?

   Sadly, though, there is no place in this industry for innovation 
anymore.  If it's not Intel's 25-year-old bad-in-the-first-place 
architecture it's somehow "bad".

           -Dave

--
Dave McGuire                 "You don't have Vaseline in Canada?"
St. Petersburg, FL                     -Bill Bradford