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I believe you're fundamentally mistaken about the direction he future is taking: the world is not regressing to things that never change, it is progressing to c

I believe you're fundamentally mistaken about the direction he future is taking: the world is not regressing to things that never change, it is progressing to continuous, perpetual change for most things in active use. There is plenty of evidence for this. I empathize with a world view that prefers stable, planned, predictable, and long lasting. But I have rarely seen this work in practice. I work with the banks (including in your state), and as far as I can see their aim is to move towards faster change in their IT systems, and disposability.

kuschku 11y ago
The banks do, but the people don’t. No one wants to have to buy a new Smart Fridge every year because the manufacturer stopped updating the old one. Hell, people won’t even update at all. We can’t even get updating software on Android correctly. And instead of releasing bugfixes for all releases, Google instantly abandons a version of Android. There are 0 maintenance branches of it. Applying the Android "Agile" situation to the rest of Software and especially Hardware is the worst nightmare possible. If that is going mainstream, I’ll quit compsci and start teaching kids in a kindergarten instead. Android is actually the perfect example: Always having the latest is more important than it being thought out well! Documentation is less important than it somehow working! Android’s update situation is the exact outcome of applying Agile development not just internally, but also externally. And it’s a horrible nightmare.
- parasubvert 11y ago
  I feel you, if the world is moving towards Android updates, it won't be a great world. One can design systems for usable and even pleasant continuous operations AND updatability though - even in an agile manner - eg. erlang and Ericsson.
  - kuschku 11y ago
    Sure, one can. but almost always Agile leads to this issue. Even the previously linked NASA document says their spaceflight software should have a release and update schedule with feature updates similar to Google Chrome (aka, no support for old versions at all, always the newest, shiniest)

kuschku 11y ago

The banks do, but the people don’t. No one wants to have to buy a new Smart Fridge every year because the manufacturer stopped updating the old one. Hell, people won’t even update at all. We can’t even get updating software on Android correctly. And instead of releasing bugfixes for all releases, Google instantly abandons a version of Android. There are 0 maintenance branches of it. Applying the Android "Agile" situation to the rest of Software and especially Hardware is the worst nightmare possible. If that is going mainstream, I’ll quit compsci and start teaching kids in a kindergarten instead. Android is actually the perfect example: Always having the latest is more important than it being thought out well! Documentation is less important than it somehow working! Android’s update situation is the exact outcome of applying Agile development not just internally, but also externally. And it’s a horrible nightmare.

parasubvert 11y ago
I feel you, if the world is moving towards Android updates, it won't be a great world. One can design systems for usable and even pleasant continuous operations AND updatability though - even in an agile manner - eg. erlang and Ericsson.
- kuschku 11y ago
  Sure, one can. but almost always Agile leads to this issue. Even the previously linked NASA document says their spaceflight software should have a release and update schedule with feature updates similar to Google Chrome (aka, no support for old versions at all, always the newest, shiniest)