The analogy comparing operating systems to electrical grids reminds me a lot of Multics, which was designed around the idea that computing power would be a publ

The analogy comparing operating systems to electrical grids reminds me a lot of Multics, which was designed around the idea that computing power would be a public utility like electricity or water, and people would have home terminals connected to giant public mainframes. Of course, history didn't quite work that way, what with the proliferation of microcomputers - though sometimes I feel like the modern trend of web applications has managed to sloppily reinvent that idea.