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Computers used to be new, and you used to have to do a lot yourself to make it work. This is no longer the case, which has a side-effect of taking that 'self-ma
by oneplane 6y ago
Computers used to be new, and you used to have to do a lot yourself to make it work. This is no longer the case, which has a side-effect of taking that 'self-made' feeling away from it. This is no different than not building your own car anymore or not building your own house from scratch. While it's still possible, it's no longer viable for normal use due to the immense scale and integration required for the mass market.
The only way back would be to destroy the mass market and make it small again, but that has its own drawbacks.
- stjo 6y agoLocking users in, removing configuration options and just focusing for the lowest common denominator skill set has nothing to do with “self-made feeling”. The author’s annoying clerk analogy really summarises it well.
- oneplane 6y agoThe author’s annoying clerk analogy completely misses the point. The computer isn't a kitchen, it's the oven. Or the fridge. Those are built to spec and regulation, and if you want to serve others from those you get checkups and clerks all the same. The feeling was that it is 'your domain', which it isn't as soon as you take part in a larger ecosystem (i.e. networked and vendor-supported with many users and shared services).