Re: Phix 1.0.2 uploaded
- Posted by katsmeow Mar 04, 2023
- 2375 views
I think back then there was not a sense of "cloud". There were BBSs, and a few programs to communicate with them, with less than satisfactory results. That's what "social media" is nowadaze : glorified bulletin board servers, overblown computer answering machines. You can leave a message and read msgs left by others.
But without "cloud", there was "reality", and for me, the desktop computer with it's keybd and display screen was a very accommodating interface to microcontrollers of reality. And the interface to/from me could be changed, with different text color and fonts, different programming languages, "music" and human speech for sounds, and hardware ports to plug hardware interfaces into. The C64 was an amazingly capable environmental control unit, needing only signal translation to turn binary bits into motor rpm or room light intensity.
I think it's possible there's as many potential programmers now as back then, but we never were a popular or obvious visable breed, and now the glare of "social media" swamps the tiny olde computer geek signal. And the signal is a little different, it's like electronics, you can still buy vacuum tube kits, but most people look for transistorised stuff. Same with programming, furnishing run-of-the-mill common language features of the 1990's isn't going to be enough. It's going to take something new, and fine-tuned, which no one will understand the need or use for now. Like when i was laughed at for putting an electric motor into a VW Beetle mid 1970's: now there's 100's of $billions going into a dozen factories to make electric cars. In the 1970's, no one saw the need for a handheld portable phone that virtually anyone could own. Or putting a turbocharger (etc) into a car to get better gas mileage.
Kat
