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Xerox Alto [1] had GUI, Smalltalk 72 dev env and TCP/IP networking in 1973. How much real progress has there been in software technology since then? [1] https:

Xerox Alto [1] had GUI, Smalltalk 72 dev env and TCP/IP networking in 1973. How much real progress has there been in software technology since then? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto

coldtea 7y ago
Considering I can do extraordinarily more complicated tasks today, and a whole more of them, a lot. But we also missed a lot of good stuff that we used to have.
- wtetzner 7y ago
  Is that an improvement in software, or just a result of hardware getting faster?
  - coldtea 7y ago
    Very much an improvement in software too. Compare a 1980 compiler with the optimizations GCC and LLVM make. Or v8 with the best interpreter in 1990. Or video codecs (almost non existent then). Or cryptography code (immensely improved). Or the capabilities of InDesign compared to a 1990 DTP. Or Photoshop compared to crude editors in the 80s. Or modern GCs versus crude 80s and 90s GCs. Or a modern DAW compared to 1990s midi apps...