3 ms·

The dream of the personal machine

60 points by Hooke 3y ago

shove 3y ago
You might enjoy “The Dream Machine” (is the similar title a coincidence?) which is a fantastic history of the personal computer that even those of us pretty well versed can learn a lot from
- mitchbob 3y ago
  Agreed, it's a great read. The central character is J.C.R. Licklider [1], and the recent Stripe Press reissue of the book [2] includes some of Licklider's own writings at the end. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._R._Licklider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._R._Licklider [2] https://press.stripe.com/the-dream-machine https://press.stripe.com/the-dream-machine
Animats 3y ago
Strange. There's a whole me, Me, ME essay, which seemed like it was a lead-up to a personal machine they built. But no. There's a startup with a round phone.[1] But they announced in 2021, and haven't updated their web site since 2022. They need to get that out the door, make it in pink, and get it into the next Barbie movie. [1] https://www.cyrclephone.com/ https://www.cyrclephone.com/
- anotheruser13 3y ago
  Preceded by the Runcible. https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meet-a-smartphone-designed-to-look-like-a-pocket-watch/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meet-a-smartphone-design... ISTR another round phone before that, perhaps a Samsung, but I can't find it now.
jrm4 3y ago
Not gonna lie, the Steam Deck is damn close to "the thing I've wanted for 20 years."
- Vecr 3y ago
  That's plausible, apparently the Steam Deck is being used in Ukraine as a fire control computer. For what, I'm not sure, but probably drones and possibly things like the STUGNA-P.
overvale 3y ago
Cyberdecks? - https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&query=cyberdeck&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&query=cyberdeck&sort=b...
trostaft 3y ago
I feel like this is a niche that smartphones haven't hit. Perhaps we'll have to wait until it's 'easy' to manufacture phones, but I would be extremely interested in something more customizable on the hardware and/or software side. I'm aware about the downsides from a performance and/or cost perspective, but having something of your own makes a difference (I can't find the word to describe it) towards loving it.
- eternityforest 3y ago
  Smartphones are so hyper optimized for their role. The fact that they're mostly the same is why there are so many apps that all worl reliably. If they had too much variety we'd have to go back to actually owning physical items again and maybe even paying with real cash and cards! What seems more practical is cheap low power devices that connect to phones, which can be left in a backpack. Like, an EInk Pokedex that just does texts, calls, notes, and smart light control. These devices would already be cheap and easy to make. The proof is that all they would be is cheap emulator handhelds, with different software, more interesting cases, and an ESP32 instead of whatever CPU. The cost should be like $30 for TFT ones. GPS, a camera, a touchscreen, etc, are all not needed. You don't need a high resolution screen or real video playback. There's the phone for that. All you need is Bluetooth and Wifi, and probably NFC or perhaps even LoRa for some of the cooler possibilities.
eternityforest 3y ago
I think a lot of my interest in tech was probably influenced by Michael Crichton movies, Magic School Bus, Critter Gitters, and the like. What little tech content there was in the media really set me up for embedded systems. I liked the idea of making video games for a bit, until the gaming scene changed and I realized how hard it is to do anything at a pro level. But mostly, I was interested in how devices could integrate with the real world. Cold dead pixels on a screen aren't that interesting unless you're a true intellectual and have a lot of understanding of math and algorithms, probably more than average coders. Even the early internet, and remaining unshitty forums, are mostly only interesting because there's a real person on the other end, and it gets boring again if all anyone talks about is tech with no connection to anything but more tech. I think that's probably a lot of what happened and why the internet isn't that exciting to a lot of us anymore. When all day is JUST phone scrolling, nobody is doing anything to write about. It's like the "AI models eating their own shit" problem, but WE are the being like the AI models and have been since 2008 or so. Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with my mind, since I don't get into the really abstract stuff as much as other devs, I don't spend weekends learning LISP just for fun or writing my own sorting algorithms, everyone else seems to be motivated by logic and simplicity and ideas a lot more.
michaelhoney 3y ago
A couple of places where hardware still has some flavour: - I have an Apple Watch Ultra (https://www.apple.com/au/apple-watch-ultra/ https://www.apple.com/au/apple-watch-ultra/) which has two chunky hardware buttons and a scrollwheel. That provides some good interaction opportunities. - Modern digital cameras continue to explore hardware interfaces. I would love a ruggedised iPhone optimised for photography: thicker for better holding, battery life and to give room for a larger lens, with hardware dials and buttons for no-look photography.
- vmladenov 3y ago
  Can you share what you enjoy about your Action button? I had mine set to the default waypoint marker but it’s only really useful on hikes. I switched it to summon the Activity app, but I haven’t found a way to do anything like mark lap times with it. Feels underutilized, looking for ideas

60 points by Hooke 3y ago

You might enjoy “The Dream Machine” (is the similar title a coincidence?) which is a fantastic history of the personal computer that even those of us pretty well versed can learn a lot from

mitchbob 3y ago
Agreed, it's a great read. The central character is J.C.R. Licklider [1], and the recent Stripe Press reissue of the book [2] includes some of Licklider's own writings at the end. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._R._Licklider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._C._R._Licklider [2] https://press.stripe.com/the-dream-machine https://press.stripe.com/the-dream-machine

Animats 3y ago

Strange. There's a whole me, Me, ME essay, which seemed like it was a lead-up to a personal machine they built. But no. There's a startup with a round phone.[1] But they announced in 2021, and haven't updated their web site since 2022. They need to get that out the door, make it in pink, and get it into the next Barbie movie. [1] https://www.cyrclephone.com/ https://www.cyrclephone.com/

anotheruser13 3y ago
Preceded by the Runcible. https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meet-a-smartphone-designed-to-look-like-a-pocket-watch/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/meet-a-smartphone-design... ISTR another round phone before that, perhaps a Samsung, but I can't find it now.

jrm4 3y ago

Not gonna lie, the Steam Deck is damn close to "the thing I've wanted for 20 years."

Vecr 3y ago
That's plausible, apparently the Steam Deck is being used in Ukraine as a fire control computer. For what, I'm not sure, but probably drones and possibly things like the STUGNA-P.

overvale 3y ago

Cyberdecks? - https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&query=cyberdeck&sort=byDate&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&query=cyberdeck&sort=b...

trostaft 3y ago

I feel like this is a niche that smartphones haven't hit. Perhaps we'll have to wait until it's 'easy' to manufacture phones, but I would be extremely interested in something more customizable on the hardware and/or software side. I'm aware about the downsides from a performance and/or cost perspective, but having something of your own makes a difference (I can't find the word to describe it) towards loving it.

eternityforest 3y ago
Smartphones are so hyper optimized for their role. The fact that they're mostly the same is why there are so many apps that all worl reliably. If they had too much variety we'd have to go back to actually owning physical items again and maybe even paying with real cash and cards! What seems more practical is cheap low power devices that connect to phones, which can be left in a backpack. Like, an EInk Pokedex that just does texts, calls, notes, and smart light control. These devices would already be cheap and easy to make. The proof is that all they would be is cheap emulator handhelds, with different software, more interesting cases, and an ESP32 instead of whatever CPU. The cost should be like $30 for TFT ones. GPS, a camera, a touchscreen, etc, are all not needed. You don't need a high resolution screen or real video playback. There's the phone for that. All you need is Bluetooth and Wifi, and probably NFC or perhaps even LoRa for some of the cooler possibilities.

eternityforest 3y ago

I think a lot of my interest in tech was probably influenced by Michael Crichton movies, Magic School Bus, Critter Gitters, and the like. What little tech content there was in the media really set me up for embedded systems. I liked the idea of making video games for a bit, until the gaming scene changed and I realized how hard it is to do anything at a pro level. But mostly, I was interested in how devices could integrate with the real world. Cold dead pixels on a screen aren't that interesting unless you're a true intellectual and have a lot of understanding of math and algorithms, probably more than average coders. Even the early internet, and remaining unshitty forums, are mostly only interesting because there's a real person on the other end, and it gets boring again if all anyone talks about is tech with no connection to anything but more tech. I think that's probably a lot of what happened and why the internet isn't that exciting to a lot of us anymore. When all day is JUST phone scrolling, nobody is doing anything to write about. It's like the "AI models eating their own shit" problem, but WE are the being like the AI models and have been since 2008 or so. Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with my mind, since I don't get into the really abstract stuff as much as other devs, I don't spend weekends learning LISP just for fun or writing my own sorting algorithms, everyone else seems to be motivated by logic and simplicity and ideas a lot more.

michaelhoney 3y ago

A couple of places where hardware still has some flavour: - I have an Apple Watch Ultra (https://www.apple.com/au/apple-watch-ultra/ https://www.apple.com/au/apple-watch-ultra/) which has two chunky hardware buttons and a scrollwheel. That provides some good interaction opportunities. - Modern digital cameras continue to explore hardware interfaces. I would love a ruggedised iPhone optimised for photography: thicker for better holding, battery life and to give room for a larger lens, with hardware dials and buttons for no-look photography.

vmladenov 3y ago
Can you share what you enjoy about your Action button? I had mine set to the default waypoint marker but it’s only really useful on hikes. I switched it to summon the Activity app, but I haven’t found a way to do anything like mark lap times with it. Feels underutilized, looking for ideas