3 ms·

Compared to voyager I see that as more of the same and almost disposable. I have a large collection of technical documentation and physical artifacts of the sa

Compared to voyager I see that as more of the same and almost disposable. I have a large collection of technical documentation and physical artifacts of the same computer implemented as discreet components amd integrated circuits. The company had to invent the lithographic process to print circuits. So ASML is very impressive but could also be seen as a derivative idea.

magicalhippo 3y ago
Seen that way, the Voyager probes are also very impressive but also a derivative idea. After all they were really Mariner 11 and 12[1], if not in name, not even the first interplanetary probes. Rather I think it's more interesting to view engineering as finding solutions to a problem given a set of constraints. In that sense I think both the Voyager probes as well as lot of modern engineering is quite remarkable. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program#Mariner_Jupiter-Saturn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program#Mariner_Jupite...
- detourdog 3y ago
  I would respond that Voyager is still going compared to Mariner. The Voyager project may be derivative but it has out performed all others. I would also lump all those early inertial guidance efforts of early computing together with Voyager as the high water mark.
  - detourdog 3y ago
    I think what I'm holding in such high regard is the meager resources and lack of experience caused the development to stick very close to first principles. I think that most of the layers of technology today are actual intermediately related to the problem at hand. I want modern computing to a svelte as possible with a direct UI that maps to the human tasks and hardware that is tightly coupled to the physical world. Maybe someday I will have an example of what I think is good. I think I'm getting really close to what I see as 100 year computer aesthetic.

3 ms·

Compared to voyager I see that as more of the same and almost disposable. I have a large collection of technical documentation and physical artifacts of the sa

by detourdog 3y ago

magicalhippo 3y ago
Seen that way, the Voyager probes are also very impressive but also a derivative idea. After all they were really Mariner 11 and 12[1], if not in name, not even the first interplanetary probes. Rather I think it's more interesting to view engineering as finding solutions to a problem given a set of constraints. In that sense I think both the Voyager probes as well as lot of modern engineering is quite remarkable. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program#Mariner_Jupiter-Saturn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program#Mariner_Jupite...
- detourdog 3y ago
  I would respond that Voyager is still going compared to Mariner. The Voyager project may be derivative but it has out performed all others. I would also lump all those early inertial guidance efforts of early computing together with Voyager as the high water mark.
  - detourdog 3y ago
    I think what I'm holding in such high regard is the meager resources and lack of experience caused the development to stick very close to first principles. I think that most of the layers of technology today are actual intermediately related to the problem at hand. I want modern computing to a svelte as possible with a direct UI that maps to the human tasks and hardware that is tightly coupled to the physical world. Maybe someday I will have an example of what I think is good. I think I'm getting really close to what I see as 100 year computer aesthetic.