Google Patents Staple of '70s Mainframe Computing

theodp writes "'The lack of interest, the disdain for history is what makes computing not-quite-a-field,' Alan Kay once lamented. And so it should come as no surprise that the USPTO granted Google a patent Tuesday for the Automatic Deletion of Temporary Files, perhaps unaware that the search giant's claimed invention is essentially a somewhat kludgy variation on file expiration processing, a staple of circa-1970 IBM mainframe computing and subsequent disk management software. From Google's 2013 patent: 'A path name for a file system directory can be "C:temp\12-1-1999\" to indicate that files contained within the file system directory will expire on Dec. 1, 1999.' From Judith Rattenbury's 1971 Introduction to the IBM 360 computer and OS/JCL: 'EXPDT=70365 With this expiration date specified, the data set will not be scratched or overwritten without special operator action until the 365th day of 1970.' Hey, things are new if you've never seen them before!"

Comments

What's old is new again

[ZorinLynx]

The same thing happened in the 80s and early 90s when microcomputers started gaining features like virtual memory, protected modes, out of order execution, etc... People thought these were all brand new things, when in fact mainframe processors had done all that 20 years prior in the 1960s.

I bet when all the kids were super-excited about programming on the i386 with its "OMG VIRTUAL MEMORY!!!" the older guys who had worked on mainframes just rolled their eyes. :)

Read about the IBM 360/91 if you want details on what I mean. It was amazing when you consider the year it came out.

Re:What's old is new again

[93 Escort Wagon]

As an aside... I remember a few years ago - when we were still running tape backups - I went to one of our then-sysadmins and asked him to recover an important directory one of our faculty had managed to delete. I was told he couldn't do it because it would require they stop the backup system for several hours, which would throw their backup tape rotation scheme out of sync.

So we were continuously generating backups we could never actually use.

Public Patent Challenge

[cowtamer]

I think it's time for a crowdsourced patent challenge web site run by the USPTO where there would be a period of public comment for each patent about to be awarded in order to help underpaid (and I imagine under-resourced) examiners find Prior Art.

A lot fewer patents might be awarded, but ones that are would be genuinely new -- this might also save the world billions of dollars.

Re:Public Patent Challenge

[stevesliva]

I think it's time for a crowdsourced patent challenge web site run by the USPTO where there would be a period of public comment for each patent about to be awarded in order to help underpaid (and I imagine under-resourced) examiners find Prior Art.

A lot fewer patents might be awarded, but ones that are would be genuinely new -- this might also save the world billions of dollars.

http://peertopatent.org/

Re:Virtual memory, etc. was easy in the early 1980

[jedidiah]

Miniaturization took care of that.

Whether or not it could be done for some arbitrary price is not relevant.

Doing something over again in a different medium is still not invention no matter how much you want to shill for companies that would grind you into crackers if given enough motive.

Not morons - just doing the job as intended

[dbIII]

It's just another version of a dog licence intended as a petty revenue stream. When a patent is granted that's proof of nothing other than the government is aware of it and has it on file - validity these days is apparently supposed to be sorted out in court and is none of the patent office's business.

Re:I'm Sorry, but...

[AmiMoJo]

Google only uses patents defensively, at least up until now. In a way it is better that such a ridiculous patent went to a non-troll company that won't use it to suppress the competition, if the USPTO is going to grant such nonsense.