5 ms·

I'd take it back even further: We started out on mainframes. Then things moved to the desktop, with some centralized functionality on servers (shared drives,

I'd take it back even further: We started out on mainframes. Then things moved to the desktop, with some centralized functionality on servers (shared drives, batch jobs). The processing moved to centralized web servers via the web, SAAS, and the cloud. Then more moved into the client through React & similar. And now things are moving back to the server. Tick. Tock. These changes are not just arbitrary whims of fashion, though. They're driven by generational improvements in technology and tooling.

exabrial 6y ago
Virtual machines, containers, very similar to partitions and spaces on mainframes as well.
- madmulita 6y ago
  And serverless is an anemic CICS executing non-transactions.
  - dsego 6y ago
    Serverless is kind of like Apache running PHP scripts in virtual hosts.
    - vp8989 6y ago
      The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing people that shared hosting is preferable to dedicated, and then charging them way more money for it.
      - exabrial 6y ago
        The cloud is just someone else's computer in a data center in new Jersey about to be hurt by a hurricane.
- rvense 6y ago
  Is it really a pendulum, or is it more that this was always an idea with merit that's now finally seeing wider adoption because it's become more widely available? (In part, I understand, due to some IBM patents that expire 10 or so years ago)
- greenyoda 6y ago
  Virtual machines are not a recent invention. They were already being used on IBM mainframes starting in the early 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(operating_system) Notably, the VM operating system could run an instance of itself in one of its own virtual machines.
ballenf 6y ago
I got a chuckle out of Apple M1 chip touting having shared video memory as a big step forward. (Which it is, but is still amusing to me how it might have sounded like a groundbreaking innovation to a layperson.)
- mywittyname 6y ago
  Apple takes Cue From Original Xbox with Latest Chipset.
  - hugi 6y ago
    Or; Apple takes cue from own Macintosh IIsi from three decades ago?
- userbinator 6y ago
  In the PC industry, that's called UMA and has been around for a few decades, synonymous with ultra-low-cost (and performance) integrated graphics. To hype it so much as a good thing, Apple marketing is really genius.
cleaver 6y ago
Yes. I have thought about this a lot. There are cycles... Like thin client (VT100), to thick (client/server desktop app), to thin (browser), etc. Similarly, console apps (respond to a single request in a loop), to event-driven GUI apps, to HTTP apps that just respond to a simple request, back to event-driven JS apps. It depends on how you define the boundaries, but history rhymes.
userbinator 6y ago
They're driven by generational improvements in technology and tooling. I'd say they're driven by corporate greed. Cloud computing is basically renting time, and so the more you use them, the more $$$ they make.

exabrial 6y ago

Virtual machines, containers, very similar to partitions and spaces on mainframes as well.

madmulita 6y ago
And serverless is an anemic CICS executing non-transactions.
- dsego 6y ago
  Serverless is kind of like Apache running PHP scripts in virtual hosts.
  - vp8989 6y ago
    The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing people that shared hosting is preferable to dedicated, and then charging them way more money for it.
    - exabrial 6y ago
      The cloud is just someone else's computer in a data center in new Jersey about to be hurt by a hurricane.
rvense 6y ago
Is it really a pendulum, or is it more that this was always an idea with merit that's now finally seeing wider adoption because it's become more widely available? (In part, I understand, due to some IBM patents that expire 10 or so years ago)
greenyoda 6y ago
Virtual machines are not a recent invention. They were already being used on IBM mainframes starting in the early 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(operating_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(operating_system) Notably, the VM operating system could run an instance of itself in one of its own virtual machines.

ballenf 6y ago

I got a chuckle out of Apple M1 chip touting having shared video memory as a big step forward. (Which it is, but is still amusing to me how it might have sounded like a groundbreaking innovation to a layperson.)

mywittyname 6y ago
Apple takes Cue From Original Xbox with Latest Chipset.
- hugi 6y ago
  Or; Apple takes cue from own Macintosh IIsi from three decades ago?
userbinator 6y ago
In the PC industry, that's called UMA and has been around for a few decades, synonymous with ultra-low-cost (and performance) integrated graphics. To hype it so much as a good thing, Apple marketing is really genius.

cleaver 6y ago

Yes. I have thought about this a lot. There are cycles... Like thin client (VT100), to thick (client/server desktop app), to thin (browser), etc. Similarly, console apps (respond to a single request in a loop), to event-driven GUI apps, to HTTP apps that just respond to a simple request, back to event-driven JS apps. It depends on how you define the boundaries, but history rhymes.

userbinator 6y ago

They're driven by generational improvements in technology and tooling. I'd say they're driven by corporate greed. Cloud computing is basically renting time, and so the more you use them, the more $$$ they make.