Disrupting technology, mobile phone versus PC/laptop etc

[nick65go]

As Rob Landley, the developer of toybox (a busybox replacement), has said long time ago
(in the dead for now project) http://landley.net/aboriginal/about.html

Make Android self-hosting (musl, toybox, qcc).
Smartphones are replacing the PC, and if Android doesn't become self-hosting we may be stuck with locked down iPhone derivatives in the next generation.
Mainframe -> minicomputer -> microcomputer (PC) -> smartphone
Mainframes were replaced by minicomputers, which were replaced by microcomputers, which are being replaced by smartphones. (Nobody needed to stand in line to pick up a printout when they could sign up for a timeslot at a terminal down the hall. Nobody needed the terminal down the hall when they had a computer on their desk. Now nobody needs the computer on their desk when they have one in their pocket.)

Each time the previous generation got kicked up into the "server space", only accessed through the newer machines. (This time around kicking the PC up into the server space is called "the cloud".)

Smartphones have USB ports, which charge the phone and transfer data. Using a smartphone as a development workstation involves plugging it into a USB hub, adding a USB keyboard, USB mouse, and USB to HDMI converter to plug it into a television. The rest is software.

And now we could see it in action with a Chinese mobile phone (very portable) in a small docking station (all mouse/keyboard, HDMI TV, USB 3.1 storage, etc) for 25 euros! WTF, linux for ARM seams the future for END USERS. Small size, less power consumption.


[Baseus USB Type C HUB Docking Station For Samsung S10 S9 Dex Pad Station HDMI Dock Power Adapter For Huawei P30 P20 Pro]

    [EDIT]: Link removed as requested by nick65go in reply #4.  Rich

[mocore]

(in the dead for now project) http://landley.net/aboriginal/about.html

just ftr   , aboriginal ---> mkroot

https://github.com/landley/mkroot -

This project is a successor to https://landley.net/aboriginal/about.html
and shares most of the same goals, with a much simpler implementation.

 

[nick65go]

https://landley.net/notes.html#20-05-2020

Starting around 1970 minicomputers kicked mainframes up into the "server space",
then starting around 1987 the PC kicked the minicomputer up into the server space.
Around 2007 the PC got kicked up into the server space, this time the process has a marketing budget and was called "the cloud"

Intel and Microsoft are PC companies, and the PC is big iron now.
having a PC does not make you a "better" developer, because there's nothing you can ONLY do with a PC that you can't do (possibly more slowly) on a phone.

[PDP-8]

Fascinating isn't it - especially now that compared to a smartphone, a $35 RPI (or other SBC) can be used and tossed into the trash with nary a thought.

So really, we've come down to a hardware abstraction layer.

But here's what I noticed while growing through this whole mini > micro transition:

The emphasis shifted from learning computer skills, to those of operating application$$.  That's all the rags back in the day pushed - no applications, no users.  Users weren't *really* interested in computers, only the application abstraction.

The micro-generation had no scruples whatsoever, and this got reflected by the former mini manufacturers as they scaled down while the micros scaled up.

In other words, computer science for it's own sake, even if simply teaching how to work within a shell environment as even a slightly interested user was lost because it wasn't profitable.

The ONLY reason to learn programming was not to improve the educational environment, but solely to create applications or games.  Lock users into a captive interface, and only teach them how to use forms basically.  Or see the computer in front of them as a replacement for a former mechanical device like multimedia player, television, game-boy etc.  And of course like mechanical devices, and all the games are played, new hardware is needed.  They don't care what's underneath the hood.

The funny thing today is that most consumers are *still* heavily shielded and dissuaded from self-learning a simple environment, but shoved into ever-changing apps$.  The cost may be free now, but the cost, even if you factor in loss of privacy, is the loss to think on your own.

I don't know - I still revel in the fact that much of the commands I use in the shell, function the same as they did back in 1970.  Hence the hardware abstraction of what I use today.

But many are still told that they are too stupid to understand it - even if they aren't - because it's not profitable to allow them to think that way.  And of course never tell the consumer that what they learn might be just as applicable 50 years from now as it was 50 years ago.  Ie, it's not a wasted effort learning this skill.

Ok, caffeine has worn off.  Time to quit.

[nick65go]

@ forum moderators: please remove my link to www_wish_. _com web-site, from my first post. because the link asks for some kind of registration, i did not was aware about this. thank you.

[nick65go]

They don't care what's underneath the hood.
...
The funny thing today is that most consumers are *still* heavily shielded and dissuaded from self-learning a simple environment, but shoved into ever-changing apps$.  The cost may be free now, but the cost, even if you factor in loss of privacy, is the loss to think on your own.
...

I like your comment and I agree. Sometime I am annoyed when I ask a colleague a question and they replay: just google search it. F**k, brain washed. And the more someone is specialized then the more atrofiated he become. Just move them a little aside of their daily operation field, and they are useless. But, if I would be rude, I will say: the more dummy they are then the less competition is for me. Lucky me, I try to get out of competing.

 https://monevator.com/early-retirement-extreme-method/
 "I want people to take a step back and think about why they live as they do.
 Today we are twice as productive as in the 1950s, meaning we could live a 1950s lifestyle with better technology and a four-hour work day as a single income family.  So many life skills have been lost on the way to the mall to buy cheap junk and fake happiness. People own huge houses that they work so hard to pay off that they only have time to sleep in them or crash and watch TV. They drive expensive cars stop-and-go at 20mph to go to work, mainly to pay for the few hours they spend outside of work.
 It could be very different. I want to show how it is possible to live happily without spending a lot and without using a lot of resources.
 If the Earth was a pie, it is not growing bigger, and yet there are 120 million more people being added every year. We’ll pass seven billion within a few years. You can see that in greater competition – including wars – for resources, which is reflected in things like the price spikes for oil, metals, gold, and corn.
I think the point of diminishing returns was reached some time ago in terms of competition as a viable strategy to a better life. It is much more efficient to learn to live well on less than to waste time and energy competing for more."