3 ms·

> How long until someone has a device which can go to Netflix, social networking, etc. but doesn't have a web browser on it that can load arbitrary pages, and i

> How long until someone has a device which can go to Netflix, social networking, etc. but doesn't have a web browser on it that can load arbitrary pages, and it's impossible to jailbreak? Such a locked-down device wouldn't really be anything new, we already have Roku, Chromecast, Chromebook, and games consoles. They don't threaten the 'ordinary' PC market.

core-questions 6y ago
It's been an incremental war. For context, I've been posting about this for 20 years; during that time all the devices you say "we already have" were invented. This has eaten away at the average person's computing freedom, ironically while providing them a ton more computing power and capability. > They don't threaten the 'ordinary' PC market. Not directly, but think about this: * I know people who do not own a PC anymore, they just have tablet, phone, and TV. No need, apparently, but... * This results in a ton of kids growing up without early exposure to general purpose computing * This has been an increasing trend for quite some time now, and Pluton is just the next incarnation of Palladium, which tells us that Microsoft really does still see a completely captured market in their future. Linux plays a role, but in the embrace-and-extend sense; while WSL helps squeeze Linux out as a desktop OS down on the ground, Microsoft's ownership of Github cements it in the cloud. I know, I know, old man yells at cloud, I don't expect this train to stop, I just want people to stop and think once in a while about where it might be going. It's OK to dream up worst-case scenarios and then strategize for how you might fend off that eventuality even if it's unlikely.
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago
  > ton of kids growing up without early exposure to general purpose computing I agree that's a problem. It's possible to learn to code on an iPad, [0] but the system is generally closed to exploration. [0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grasshopper-learn-to-code/id1354133284 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grasshopper-learn-to-code/id13...

core-questions 6y ago

It's been an incremental war. For context, I've been posting about this for 20 years; during that time all the devices you say "we already have" were invented. This has eaten away at the average person's computing freedom, ironically while providing them a ton more computing power and capability. > They don't threaten the 'ordinary' PC market. Not directly, but think about this: * I know people who do not own a PC anymore, they just have tablet, phone, and TV. No need, apparently, but... * This results in a ton of kids growing up without early exposure to general purpose computing * This has been an increasing trend for quite some time now, and Pluton is just the next incarnation of Palladium, which tells us that Microsoft really does still see a completely captured market in their future. Linux plays a role, but in the embrace-and-extend sense; while WSL helps squeeze Linux out as a desktop OS down on the ground, Microsoft's ownership of Github cements it in the cloud. I know, I know, old man yells at cloud, I don't expect this train to stop, I just want people to stop and think once in a while about where it might be going. It's OK to dream up worst-case scenarios and then strategize for how you might fend off that eventuality even if it's unlikely.

MaxBarraclough 6y ago
> ton of kids growing up without early exposure to general purpose computing I agree that's a problem. It's possible to learn to code on an iPad, [0] but the system is generally closed to exploration. [0] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grasshopper-learn-to-code/id1354133284 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grasshopper-learn-to-code/id13...