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Quotes from 1992

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Re: Quotes from 1992

#121

Post by simonh »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #117
Can_Not wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't use a windows computer in all of 2018 and 2019. MS's "let's make PC GUIs more like a 2006 flip phone" strategy and other random instabilities and anti-user designs have inverted the difficultly of switching to linux to now being difficult to stay on windows.

Windows 10 doesn't come with the tablet experience on by default, you have to put it into tablet mode to get that. That's been true for several years now.

Win10 is a lot less user hostile that 8, but it still has the legacy of having two different UIs in parallel. Finding specific configuration setting has always been hard on Windows but you also have the dumbed down don’t-call-it-metro interface getting in the way as well.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#122

Post by marcosdumay »

jhbadger wrote: post #50

From Accidental Empires, which the article quotes: "Then there was Flight Simulator, the only computer game published by Microsoft". Even at the time (long before XBox), this wasn't true. Microsoft had published several games before Flight Simulator -- a version of the classic Colossal Cave adventure called "Microsoft Adventure", and "Microsoft Decathlon", an Olympic sports game.

The Z-80 computer I had the the 80's had an entire K-7 tape of games from Microsoft.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#123

Post by ficklepickle »

reaperducer wrote: post #94
omegabravo wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=... Pinball game was licensed, not developed by Microsoft AFAIK

And Flight Simulator was from subLOGIC in Champaign, Illinois, IIRC.

Monster truck madness was a similar situation too. I remember there was still a logo from the original company in there somewhere, on a license plate maybe?

This is from memory, mind you.

I still exclaim "roll over, Beethoven!" whenever appropriate.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#124

Post by leoc »

sedachv wrote: post #111
bhouston wrote: post #14

Robert X. Cringely is often incredibly observant and accurate. That is why his writing stands the test of time because he saw things accurately and wasn't just a hype pedeler or mindless trend follower. I feel he doesn't get enough credit for that.

> Robert X. Cringely is often incredibly observant and accurate. Quite the opposite: http://www.digibarn.com/friends/jef-raskin/writings/holes.ht... Cringely is a good writer and storyteller. The stories he tells are often hearsay or wildly inaccurate recounting of events by third parties. His writings should in no way be treated as being accurate, and should not be referenced as historical sources or anything like t…

Oh, he's certainly sometimes observant (and indeed sometimes accurate), it's just that he's far from being particularly reliable.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#125

Post by leoc »

flippyhead wrote: post #35
asaph wrote: post #32

> I was recently recommended to read the book Accidental Empires by Robert X. Cringely, first published in 1992 (or was it 1991?) and apparently no longer in print... You can buy a new copy on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0887308554/

Hey look, the audio cassette (what's that??) is only $869!

That's right everyone, we live at a pivotal moment in history where trading algos are making wild-arsed guesses at the market value of low-sales-volume prerecorded compact cassettes.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#126

Post by jimktrains2 »

jhbadger wrote: post #50

From Accidental Empires, which the article quotes: "Then there was Flight Simulator, the only computer game published by Microsoft". Even at the time (long before XBox), this wasn't true. Microsoft had published several games before Flight Simulator -- a version of the classic Colossal Cave adventure called "Microsoft Adventure", and "Microsoft Decathlon", an Olympic sports game.

Also my absolute favorite game as a kid: SpaceSim

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Space_Simulator

Re: Quotes from 1992

#127

Post by ChuckMcM »

F_J_H wrote: post #110
gitgud wrote: post #37

It takes new ideas a long time to catch on - time that is mainly devoted to evolving the idea into something useful. This fact alone dumps most of the responsibility for early technical innovation in the laps of amateurs, who can afford to take the time. Only those who aren't trying to make money can afford to advance a technology that doesn't pay. This is how I feel about hacker news. People who have the time to adv…

Obligatory Feynman quote Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it.

That is one of my favorites, although I often substitute 'learning' for 'science'.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#128

Post by ChuckMcM »

mcguire wrote: post #86

" A little-known partnership between IBM and Apple to try to make a new OS (Pink) that would finally beat DOS: " IBM has 33,000 programmers on its payroll but is so far from leading the software business (and knows it) that it is betting the company on the work of 100 Apple programmers wearing T-shirts in Mountain View, California. " Quote from a co-worker who spent a lot of time at Taligent: "They don't realize mice…

And another one of those weird tidbits of obscure knowledge...

When the Java group was trying to come up with a name for the browser that was going to ship with the Alpha 1 code it was called "WebRunner", that was the name we used up until we discovered through a trademark search that the name was currently registered to Taligent. Sun couldn't get anyone at Apple or IBM to acknowledge it, much less talk to us about licensing or transferring it, so we renamed the browser to 'HotJava' (which I at the time wasn't aware of the sexual innuendo there but it was what it was). I still have my jacket that has Fang on it and says "WebRunner." I have never had the heart to throw it out.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#129

Post by jimbokun »

simonh wrote: post #33
avian wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny how these days it's the inverse, isn't it? Everyone, including Microsoft with Windows 10, seems to be obsessed with making PCs into large hand-helds and phones as far as user interfaces are concerned.

I think there are useful lessons that can be learned from mobile, that might be applicable to desktop, but you're right Microsoft made exactly the same mistake again in the opposite direction. I'd say they did that most egregiously with Windows 8 though. Microsoft keep looking at a few data points they have now, extrapolate those into the future and then try to jump directly to that future. Currently it's an attempt…

I don't think they're doing that anymore under Nadella.

I don't think he sees Apple as their main competitor, but is really competing with AWS for the future of business computing, and not doing that badly.

Re: Quotes from 1992

#130

Post by AceJohnny2 »

The quote about reorgs practically gives me PTSD. Certainly irrational anger:

> The rest of the company was as confused as its leadership. Somehow, early on, reorganizations - "reorgs" - became part of the Apple culture. they happen every three to six months and come from Apple's basic lack of understanding that people need stability in order to be able to work together. [...] Make a bad decision? Who cares! By the time the bad news arrives, you'll be gone and someone else will have to handle the problems.

I worked for 6 years at STMicro, and the group I was in (Nomadik SoC) did reorgs every 18 months, practically like clockwork. This was a huge multinational company, and it was my first job so I didn't have any context to weigh it against, but in hindsight it was a huge sign of disfunction and leadership that didn't know WTF it was doing. As expected, the group shut down a few years down the line.

The place I currently work hasn't had a reorg since I joined, almost 4 years ago. But I'm sure that's largely attributable to a steady and successful product line.

It can be either a vicious or a virtuous cycle...

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