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"Toy"? Is a computer that can run a full fledged web browser these days really a "toy" computer? I'd guess the author hasn't been around long enough to remember
by johnklos 2y ago
"Toy"? Is a computer that can run a full fledged web browser these days really a "toy" computer? I'd guess the author hasn't been around long enough to remember real toy computers, like the V-Techs and other BASIC running computers for kids of the '80s. These days we have Arduinos, incredibly basic RISC-V, et cetera.
It's not really impressive to run Rust on a modern computer just because it's not x86 and because it's a bit slower than a typical desktop or laptop. Self-hosting all software on an m68030? It's interesting that it's even possible. But Rust on a Raspberry Pi 4 happens all the time.
Still, it's good to see a project move from Python 2 instead of just dying :)
- mmastrac 2y agoAuthor here: my first computer was actually TI-99, followed by a Coleco ADAM and a number of 8086/80286 systems that I used for a few years beyond their service dates because they were cast off from my dad's workplace. I put "toy" in quotes because it's pretty wild that you can effectively run a full-service, non-trivial site off 10W [¥] and ~$60 of hardware. I fully understand _why_ it's possible, but it still amazes me that this little board is doing what it would have took a 1U server in the 2000s. [¥] According to the Unifi PoE monitor, it's consuming 9.5W under this current HN load.
- nicce 2y ago> enough to remember real toy computers Definition of ”toy” changes with time. Don’t live in the past. Many other things we consider as toys were state of the art tech decades ago. What about physical Turing machine? Defenitely a toy these days. But ground breaking back then. Raspberry is defenitely a toy if you compare to real modern server hardware. Not to mention LLM processing power.
- satvikpendem 2y agoPhysical Turing machines cannot physically exist for we do not have infinite tape.
- fnordpiglet 2y agoSpeak for yourself my friend.
- fanf2 2y agoThey only need unbounded tape, which is fine, you can just run them a bit slower while your paperclip maximizer turns more of the solar system into tape.
- nicce 2y agoI prefer the Lego version: https://vimeo.com/44202270 https://vimeo.com/44202270 If we had the infinite blocks..
- fragmede 2y agojust tape the beginning of the tape to the end of the tape.
- littlestymaar 2y agoWith this line of reasoning there can be no virtual Turing machines either because we don't have infinite RAM, and no language is actually Turing complete because they can't run with infinite pointer size either …
- satvikpendem 2y agoCorrect.
- littlestymaar 2y agoTechnically correct, aka the least useful kind of correct.
- satvikpendem 2y agoI'm not sure that's how that phrase goes...
- 2y ago
- fnordpiglet 2y agoIt’s a toy compared to say a graviton host in aws or other server class machines. The comparison is temporally anchored in the present and isn’t meant to be a comparison to machines built for enthusiasts 40 years ago but to be an enthusiast computer in the present.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- fragmede 2y agoIt was originally an education device aimed at children. Is that a, if not the definition of a toy? Sure, it's powerful, but that's just the march of technology and not a reflection on it's original aims.
- dang 2y agoCan you please edit out personally belittling assumptions from your posts to HN? It's easy to fall into, but nearly always wrong, and in any case it just adds sourness to the threads. Also, it would be good to review the site guidelines generally because you broke more than one of them here—for examople, "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html