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You are right overall but the smartphone does not inspire tinkering at any level. It feels closer to the TV to me than the computer. Computers used to be boxes
by brainless 6y ago
You are right overall but the smartphone does not inspire tinkering at any level. It feels closer to the TV to me than the computer. Computers used to be boxes which, even non-developers, would open up and upgrade RAM, HDD, etc.
That encouraged tinkering to a high degree. I remember having lengthy talks about what components to use to build a PC with gamers or videgraphers. The more computers become a closed box which can not be opened, casual onlookers will have no reason to even configure them.
The industry is simply not giving people a box to open.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago> The industry is simply not giving people a box to open. The industry is, it’s people who don’t want it. The sealed boxes are some combination of more resistant to damage and longer lasting and smaller fo factor that a modular box can’t be, the sealed software is less prone to malware and blue screens of death. The cloud makes things work like an appliance, rather than having to worry about dying drives and backups and figuring out port forwarding on your router. It also helps companies extract maximum rents on their product, but the point is it came with some benefits that consumers do value.