While an interesting idea. The question is by rolling it in the Y direction, what problem are you going to solve. The standard Cell phone size, seems about right to fit into pockets. While current tablets which are more useful with extra screen space, cannot fit in your pocket, causing people to not use them as much as their phone due to lack of portability. So the folding a tablet in half to fit the phone dimensions solves a problem.
Let us redefine progress to mean just because we can do a things, doesn't mean we must do that thing.
I think the poster is just annoyed on how Computing Technology has reached popularity with the common folks. No longer the day of "Computer Wiz kids" who knew how to use a computer, write simple programs, and set the Time on the VCR. Back in the 1980's and 1990's while were were called Nerds and Geeks as an insult, we were able to do stuff that the normal people couldn't do, this made us feel special and powerful in our own ways. Now most of this stuff is common and no big deal. It now seems what made us Special is no longer special.
Having grown up as a "Computer Wiz Kid" I understand the feeling, however as being an adult, and working with other former "Computer Wiz Kids" I realize my expertise helps me do my work, however it shouldn't define who I am, and my personal self worth, is separate to what I can and cannot do on a computer that others can.
I think we have been jaded because Smart phones are so commonly used, that we really don't realize how Amazing technology it it. Thinking back 20 years ago. A Cell phone just did calls, If you had the premium model it would support Digial Phone Service, and you would be able to Text (expensively) and have features like a contact list. Your PC or laptop would have a Wired Internet Connection (If you were on the cutting edge, or in college or worked for a big company) you would have an Ethernet connection, however most people would connect with a modem (56k) Crazy Expensive Addons for your PC would be a Web Cam that can display 320x200 or a fancy one at 640x480 resolution. If you wanted a GPS be ready to shell out Thousands of dollars, and need custom Windows Only software that plugs into your serial port that will allow you to upload maps to it. Touch Screens were one finger only and you often had to press like the dickens to get it to respond. PDAs at the time, may have a color display, but no internet access, they were high tech notepads, and pocket planners.
So now over the course of my day, I can access information whenever I want. When Exposed to a term that I haven't heard before, I can look it up. For example I was looking at job openings, and I saw a lot of Jobs open for a "Full Stack Developer" I never was exposed to that term before, So I looked it up, and realized it was the type of work that I have been doing for the past 20 years. Even searching for the job openings I had my phone. I am lost, I can pull out the Map app, and see where to go. I need a flashlight, I have a flashlight, I need to magnify something, I can take the camera app and Zoom in.
It is easy to be jaded, because nearly everyone has a smartphone now. And often it is used as a toy to play a game, or to gossip with classmates. And we are mostly exposed to small updates over time in software and hardware. Getting a new feature, that we currently don't know how to implement, then gradually over time becoming an important feature.
Yes we may be using Gorilla Glass in some non-consumer technology too. Bust just become something is common and often used for silly things, doesn't mean it is a bad technology.
I think the biggest problem is Tesla'a Autopilot isn't the same as a self driving car. The Autopilot is a tool to reduce driving strain, where it will keep you in your lane, and avoid collisions. Most of the Autopilot accidents is because some idiot thinks the car is a self driving car, and just lets it drive on its own, especially in situations where the road is non normal (bad conditions, road work, work men, traffic)
This is good if you are on the Highway you have picked your lane, and need to refocus your eyes a bit.
I think the difference would be if they classify and organize the data. Or they just dump it all to the D:\ Drive (or/mnt/Archive directory) Data is useless if you cannot find it again.
Well how much physical media has been lost, destroyed, degraded over the ages. The burning of the Library of Alexandra has been said to set mankind back Hundreds of years. During revolutions it is popular to burn and destroy material from opposing ideas. Storing and preserving such media is a multi-generational activity, which requires a lot of capital, as well danger (from such revolutions), Digital Storage is cheap, and big. For under $10,000 a hobbies in digital archiving can collect enough data to fill up the worlds largest physical library in physical media. If we have thousands of people doing this hobby, who will then copy the data to new media, we are better off then we ever were. The key advantage of digital media, the more times your copy it, the safer the data. Because a digital copy is an exact copy of the data. So unlike taking a Tape Recording of a Tape Recording by the 3rd or 4th copy its quality is nearly useless. Or trying to transcribe books, where errors from human translation happens (see the joke from Red Dwarf can happen.
There is still a lot of growth in 3d printing. Today's 3d printers are a lot like the 9 pin dot matrix printers 40 years ago. They are getting cheaper all the time, They often can get the job done, but its output is kinda blocky, and prone to a lot of problems. Where back 40 years ago, your dot matrix will work for for informal documents, something formal still needed to be typed with a typewrite (or at least done with an expensive impact printer). Over time Dot matrix printers got higher resolutions, and with its double strike method the quality has greatly improved. In time for the ultra high resolution inkjets and affordable Laser Printers to make it to the market, finally making impact printing obsolete. Right now 3d printers have a place, but rarely for anything of real quality. For that you still need a good workshop.
For electronics and optics uses that is rather extreme. 90C means it can be used in the hottest deserts or inside most operational electronics, and machines. Not necessarily for cooking, or aerospace type of stuff.
I can see Cell phone makers using the technology to get rid of bevels. Because bevels are bad, because we all want the phone to interact to the fact that our hands like to cup around a device.
Not so much welding. but bending glass around metal to make an airtight connection. You can take glue or resin and have it cure with metal in it, your are not welding them together, but just submerging the metal in it. Being the resin, glass and dried glue, is solid, friction will hold it in place. On the 1906 Vacuum tubes if you were to polish those wires to be super smooth, and you wiggle the exposed wires you will probably end up moving the wire from the glass.
We have things like, Cars, Cell Phones, Buildings... That are made from glass and metal, we still want to connect the two materials together, however we either need to glue it to the metal, have the metal bolted, or bent to cup the glass (Technically you can bend the glass to cup the metal too, but that is much harder to do), Holes drilled and bolted in, or just a tight friction fit (often using a gasket).
Also much like how Metal and Concrete have different properties, they are often used together (rebar) to make a powerful building material. Using metals tension property, and concrete compression property together. To make structures that can span distances without being bouncy.
In terms of technology, we never can be confident that we are safe. Passive security, such as fixing bugs and holes in software, tend to be after the fact there was a problem found, and proper security policies are often difficult to follow.
Active security, such as Anti-virus software, and content gatekeepers, means you need to give up some of your Passive Security features (such as having an application Run with full system access, which scans and can change your active memory and all files on your drive) Gate keepers who look at everything you do and judge if it is safe or not. And the further out you outsource the technology to, the less you know how much can trust the data won't be misused.
And heterosexuals, people who may have been raped, children born from infected parent, people who have have a dirty needle (probably from drug use, but also from bad doctors), people who had a bad transfusion... I know we want to think like our ancient ancestors did, seeing people with illnesses as being evil and less human. Combined with HIV most effective methods of spreading is due to taboo things just makes it seem like a punishment from God. However if you are religious sort of person, you could also see HIV as a test to society on how we treat the least of the people, and for the people who see HIV as a punishment and do not try to cure it, or help the people, perhaps they are the one failing God.
If you are not a religious person, Then HIV is just an effective Virus, It was evolved in a way to be effective, and robust. Understanding Human Nature, where Taboo items will still happen, it means leaving such a virus in the open to try to curve "Deviant Behavior" will lead to number of getting infected even though they are not directly doing that particular behavior. Realizing the 7 degree of separation can cause such a virus from always being a possibility even for the most Pius among us.
I expect Google trying to change its culture, worked to hire more women, new employees tend to get paid more as they are negotiation on a different Supply/Demand level then when the older employee got hired. Being right now Unemployment is low meaning for these high demand jobs there are short supply. Crating higher costs for new employees. Being Google has adjusted salaries to everyone, probably means just that has happened.
Pay adjustments like this isn't communism, it is making sure they are getting paid the market amount.
The problem a lot of companies have is when they hire new employees they offer them a competitive salary, however this competitive salary, can be more then it was for the person who got hired for the same job last year. Meaning the person who got hired last year, may leave that job and get a new one who will be paying the higher rate that is demanded. The company realizing the Supply and Demand of that job has changed, and gives the employee price adjustments, is capitalism at its best.
If the person is a better Level 4 Software Engineer, then most of everyone else, perhaps he should be promoted to a Level 5 Engineer.
You can be the best Burger Flipper in the World, but you are not going to be paid a 7 figure salary to flip burgers better then everyone else. Especially with the cost benefit of the worlds best, vs Mediocre just doesn't make sense to pay this guy more then 20% more. Capitalism isn't about ability, it is about supply and demand. Being good at your job, normally will increase your demand, but there isn't much elasticity for most jobs.
Who cares what the specialist say. We are going to stick to information that makes us Feel GOOD! Just think about that, when at work your boss ignores your plead that they are going to do something stupid, because you know what the outcome is, but they just don't want to hear it, because it makes them look bad.
An honest question. Why don't you consider moving out of the Cites to more Suburban or Rural areas. Are those areas cheaper, and you will just need to increase your commute. I live in Upstate New York, and the cost to Live in the nearby cities, is very high, so I live 30 miles out where I have a good sized home and property. It does take me an hour to get to work, but the higher quality of life, seems to counter act having two hours each day on the road.
We need to stop making homes an investment, but a place to live. There are too many people who are worried about their homes resell value, because of something being built. Like Low cost housing, As well too many people buying multi-family homes and not living there, but only use them for investment purposes.
If not build more, at least fix the driving conditions so people can commute from cheaper areas easier, or California based companies, allows for more work from home options.
I remember some TV ads a while back for it, basically trying to go head to head, with mobile games on the iPhone and Android devices...
It didn't fare well. My personal view it is because of the following (Not backed up by any facts) 1. It wouldn't pass the "Mom, I need it!" test. Phones in comparison have the ability to be phone, and do productive things including to be able to call home with an emergency. Granted on your Phone Mom knows that you are going to be playing games on it 99% of the time, but at least the kid is thinking beyond just playing games. 2. Casual Games are better fit for mobile devices (This includes how the DS is still kicking) Sony wants Serious Gamers, for those who leave the basement will go brooding on top of a building, and these types of games take some time to master, vs the causal game which are easy to learn and play. If you are going to be serious about gaming, you want a big TV with full sound. 3. You probably already have a phone, you do not want to carry an other device for a single purpose. (Hence why I never used my Palm Pilot III) 4. The quantity of games available. Phones have a number of games some of good quality which are cheap or free to play or need to go to some ads. 5. Phone technology has improved rapidly. back in 2008 there was a 10 year lag between your mobile device and your PC, Today it is closer to 4 year lag. You Top of the line PC you buy today, will run on your cell phone in about 4 years. Games will only get better.
In today's more mature IT culture, yes. Back in the late 1990's and early 2000's Hot swapping components was often a bad idea, and required expensive often unreliable hardware. Also reporting on Failing components wasn't as much an option a lot of the time, it was either working or it didn't. The ultra expensive systems that cost over $50k had the ability, but the low end systems (like a Sun Ultra 5) wouldn't really have the ability.
Back in the 1990's and early 2000's a lot of servers were ran under some ones office desk. Having a "Data Center" would be a room with better AC, and a UPS, and more power and network plugs.
Men begin balding in their early 20's. Also IT in sector economies (Government, Banking, Airline, Healthcare...) tend to have older staff, then the straight Tech companies. My previous job was a Tech Company, and I was the one of the oldest guys there. Then I went to work in Healthcare, and I became the baby in the group. Also the Hip and Trendy Tech startup culture, has a lot of (age, sex, race)ism, and even if you look older and not as bro(y) enough, you are really left out, not because of your skills, but because you just don't fit in what the company thinks a Hip and Trendy company should look like. Young Male White guys, sketching flowcharts on smart-boards, getting to work early and staying late.
I wouldn't consider a cluster uptime to be a fare comparison against a single computer server. This is why Cloud services are not going down all the time, because they too are clustered. And if the cloud service provider is actually good at their job, failure don't cause outages.
I Know, I know faster transmission, of data doesn't necessarily require more power. Just a higher frequency signals of the data. Which gets increasingly harder to read, and more prone to interference. But 40Gbs in a cable that most people will coil up to keep the wires organized just seems like something prone to problems. Unless USB4 cables will have a ton of insulation, to prevent the outside world from interfering with it. Or will it have more error checking thus this 40Gbs is just a theoretical speed, and it is actually much slower in real life, because it keeps on on having data loss.
Slashdot Mirror
While an interesting idea. The question is by rolling it in the Y direction, what problem are you going to solve.
The standard Cell phone size, seems about right to fit into pockets. While current tablets which are more useful with extra screen space, cannot fit in your pocket, causing people to not use them as much as their phone due to lack of portability. So the folding a tablet in half to fit the phone dimensions solves a problem.
Let us redefine progress to mean just because we can do a things, doesn't mean we must do that thing.
I think the poster is just annoyed on how Computing Technology has reached popularity with the common folks. No longer the day of "Computer Wiz kids" who knew how to use a computer, write simple programs, and set the Time on the VCR. Back in the 1980's and 1990's while were were called Nerds and Geeks as an insult, we were able to do stuff that the normal people couldn't do, this made us feel special and powerful in our own ways. Now most of this stuff is common and no big deal. It now seems what made us Special is no longer special.
Having grown up as a "Computer Wiz Kid" I understand the feeling, however as being an adult, and working with other former "Computer Wiz Kids" I realize my expertise helps me do my work, however it shouldn't define who I am, and my personal self worth, is separate to what I can and cannot do on a computer that others can.
I think we have been jaded because Smart phones are so commonly used, that we really don't realize how Amazing technology it it.
Thinking back 20 years ago.
A Cell phone just did calls, If you had the premium model it would support Digial Phone Service, and you would be able to Text (expensively) and have features like a contact list.
Your PC or laptop would have a Wired Internet Connection (If you were on the cutting edge, or in college or worked for a big company) you would have an Ethernet connection, however most people would connect with a modem (56k)
Crazy Expensive Addons for your PC would be a Web Cam that can display 320x200 or a fancy one at 640x480 resolution. If you wanted a GPS be ready to shell out Thousands of dollars, and need custom Windows Only software that plugs into your serial port that will allow you to upload maps to it.
Touch Screens were one finger only and you often had to press like the dickens to get it to respond.
PDAs at the time, may have a color display, but no internet access, they were high tech notepads, and pocket planners.
So now over the course of my day, I can access information whenever I want. When Exposed to a term that I haven't heard before, I can look it up. For example I was looking at job openings, and I saw a lot of Jobs open for a "Full Stack Developer" I never was exposed to that term before, So I looked it up, and realized it was the type of work that I have been doing for the past 20 years. Even searching for the job openings I had my phone. I am lost, I can pull out the Map app, and see where to go. I need a flashlight, I have a flashlight, I need to magnify something, I can take the camera app and Zoom in.
It is easy to be jaded, because nearly everyone has a smartphone now. And often it is used as a toy to play a game, or to gossip with classmates. And we are mostly exposed to small updates over time in software and hardware. Getting a new feature, that we currently don't know how to implement, then gradually over time becoming an important feature.
Yes we may be using Gorilla Glass in some non-consumer technology too. Bust just become something is common and often used for silly things, doesn't mean it is a bad technology.
I think the biggest problem is Tesla'a Autopilot isn't the same as a self driving car.
The Autopilot is a tool to reduce driving strain, where it will keep you in your lane, and avoid collisions. Most of the Autopilot accidents is because some idiot thinks the car is a self driving car, and just lets it drive on its own, especially in situations where the road is non normal (bad conditions, road work, work men, traffic)
This is good if you are on the Highway you have picked your lane, and need to refocus your eyes a bit.
You can make candles with that. They don't smell good.. but they work.
I think the difference would be if they classify and organize the data. Or they just dump it all to the D:\ Drive (or /mnt/Archive directory)
Data is useless if you cannot find it again.
Well how much physical media has been lost, destroyed, degraded over the ages. The burning of the Library of Alexandra has been said to set mankind back Hundreds of years.
During revolutions it is popular to burn and destroy material from opposing ideas. Storing and preserving such media is a multi-generational activity, which requires a lot of capital, as well danger (from such revolutions), Digital Storage is cheap, and big. For under $10,000 a hobbies in digital archiving can collect enough data to fill up the worlds largest physical library in physical media. If we have thousands of people doing this hobby, who will then copy the data to new media, we are better off then we ever were.
The key advantage of digital media, the more times your copy it, the safer the data. Because a digital copy is an exact copy of the data. So unlike taking a Tape Recording of a Tape Recording by the 3rd or 4th copy its quality is nearly useless. Or trying to transcribe books, where errors from human translation happens (see the joke from Red Dwarf can happen.
There is still a lot of growth in 3d printing.
Today's 3d printers are a lot like the 9 pin dot matrix printers 40 years ago. They are getting cheaper all the time, They often can get the job done, but its output is kinda blocky, and prone to a lot of problems. Where back 40 years ago, your dot matrix will work for for informal documents, something formal still needed to be typed with a typewrite (or at least done with an expensive impact printer). Over time Dot matrix printers got higher resolutions, and with its double strike method the quality has greatly improved. In time for the ultra high resolution inkjets and affordable Laser Printers to make it to the market, finally making impact printing obsolete.
Right now 3d printers have a place, but rarely for anything of real quality. For that you still need a good workshop.
For electronics and optics uses that is rather extreme. 90C means it can be used in the hottest deserts or inside most operational electronics, and machines.
Not necessarily for cooking, or aerospace type of stuff.
I think Aluminum is popular because it is lightweight, doesn't rust, easily recyclable and is rather cheap.
I can see Cell phone makers using the technology to get rid of bevels. Because bevels are bad, because we all want the phone to interact to the fact that our hands like to cup around a device.
Not so much welding. but bending glass around metal to make an airtight connection. You can take glue or resin and have it cure with metal in it, your are not welding them together, but just submerging the metal in it. Being the resin, glass and dried glue, is solid, friction will hold it in place.
On the 1906 Vacuum tubes if you were to polish those wires to be super smooth, and you wiggle the exposed wires you will probably end up moving the wire from the glass.
We have things like, Cars, Cell Phones, Buildings... That are made from glass and metal, we still want to connect the two materials together, however we either need to glue it to the metal, have the metal bolted, or bent to cup the glass (Technically you can bend the glass to cup the metal too, but that is much harder to do), Holes drilled and bolted in, or just a tight friction fit (often using a gasket).
Also much like how Metal and Concrete have different properties, they are often used together (rebar) to make a powerful building material. Using metals tension property, and concrete compression property together. To make structures that can span distances without being bouncy.
In terms of technology, we never can be confident that we are safe.
Passive security, such as fixing bugs and holes in software, tend to be after the fact there was a problem found, and proper security policies are often difficult to follow.
Active security, such as Anti-virus software, and content gatekeepers, means you need to give up some of your Passive Security features (such as having an application Run with full system access, which scans and can change your active memory and all files on your drive) Gate keepers who look at everything you do and judge if it is safe or not. And the further out you outsource the technology to, the less you know how much can trust the data won't be misused.
And heterosexuals, people who may have been raped, children born from infected parent, people who have have a dirty needle (probably from drug use, but also from bad doctors), people who had a bad transfusion...
I know we want to think like our ancient ancestors did, seeing people with illnesses as being evil and less human. Combined with HIV most effective methods of spreading is due to taboo things just makes it seem like a punishment from God.
However if you are religious sort of person, you could also see HIV as a test to society on how we treat the least of the people, and for the people who see HIV as a punishment and do not try to cure it, or help the people, perhaps they are the one failing God.
If you are not a religious person, Then HIV is just an effective Virus, It was evolved in a way to be effective, and robust. Understanding Human Nature, where Taboo items will still happen, it means leaving such a virus in the open to try to curve "Deviant Behavior" will lead to number of getting infected even though they are not directly doing that particular behavior. Realizing the 7 degree of separation can cause such a virus from always being a possibility even for the most Pius among us.
I expect Google trying to change its culture, worked to hire more women, new employees tend to get paid more as they are negotiation on a different Supply/Demand level then when the older employee got hired. Being right now Unemployment is low meaning for these high demand jobs there are short supply. Crating higher costs for new employees.
Being Google has adjusted salaries to everyone, probably means just that has happened.
Pay adjustments like this isn't communism, it is making sure they are getting paid the market amount.
The problem a lot of companies have is when they hire new employees they offer them a competitive salary, however this competitive salary, can be more then it was for the person who got hired for the same job last year. Meaning the person who got hired last year, may leave that job and get a new one who will be paying the higher rate that is demanded. The company realizing the Supply and Demand of that job has changed, and gives the employee price adjustments, is capitalism at its best.
If the person is a better Level 4 Software Engineer, then most of everyone else, perhaps he should be promoted to a Level 5 Engineer.
You can be the best Burger Flipper in the World, but you are not going to be paid a 7 figure salary to flip burgers better then everyone else. Especially with the cost benefit of the worlds best, vs Mediocre just doesn't make sense to pay this guy more then 20% more. Capitalism isn't about ability, it is about supply and demand. Being good at your job, normally will increase your demand, but there isn't much elasticity for most jobs.
Who cares what the specialist say. We are going to stick to information that makes us Feel GOOD!
Just think about that, when at work your boss ignores your plead that they are going to do something stupid, because you know what the outcome is, but they just don't want to hear it, because it makes them look bad.
An honest question. Why don't you consider moving out of the Cites to more Suburban or Rural areas. Are those areas cheaper, and you will just need to increase your commute. I live in Upstate New York, and the cost to Live in the nearby cities, is very high, so I live 30 miles out where I have a good sized home and property. It does take me an hour to get to work, but the higher quality of life, seems to counter act having two hours each day on the road.
We need to stop making homes an investment, but a place to live.
There are too many people who are worried about their homes resell value, because of something being built. Like Low cost housing, As well too many people buying multi-family homes and not living there, but only use them for investment purposes.
If not build more, at least fix the driving conditions so people can commute from cheaper areas easier, or California based companies, allows for more work from home options.
I remember some TV ads a while back for it, basically trying to go head to head, with mobile games on the iPhone and Android devices...
It didn't fare well.
My personal view it is because of the following (Not backed up by any facts)
1. It wouldn't pass the "Mom, I need it!" test. Phones in comparison have the ability to be phone, and do productive things including to be able to call home with an emergency. Granted on your Phone Mom knows that you are going to be playing games on it 99% of the time, but at least the kid is thinking beyond just playing games.
2. Casual Games are better fit for mobile devices (This includes how the DS is still kicking) Sony wants Serious Gamers, for those who leave the basement will go brooding on top of a building, and these types of games take some time to master, vs the causal game which are easy to learn and play. If you are going to be serious about gaming, you want a big TV with full sound.
3. You probably already have a phone, you do not want to carry an other device for a single purpose. (Hence why I never used my Palm Pilot III)
4. The quantity of games available. Phones have a number of games some of good quality which are cheap or free to play or need to go to some ads.
5. Phone technology has improved rapidly. back in 2008 there was a 10 year lag between your mobile device and your PC, Today it is closer to 4 year lag. You Top of the line PC you buy today, will run on your cell phone in about 4 years. Games will only get better.
In today's more mature IT culture, yes. Back in the late 1990's and early 2000's Hot swapping components was often a bad idea, and required expensive often unreliable hardware. Also reporting on Failing components wasn't as much an option a lot of the time, it was either working or it didn't. The ultra expensive systems that cost over $50k had the ability, but the low end systems (like a Sun Ultra 5) wouldn't really have the ability.
Back in the 1990's and early 2000's a lot of servers were ran under some ones office desk. Having a "Data Center" would be a room with better AC, and a UPS, and more power and network plugs.
Men begin balding in their early 20's.
Also IT in sector economies (Government, Banking, Airline, Healthcare...) tend to have older staff, then the straight Tech companies. My previous job was a Tech Company, and I was the one of the oldest guys there. Then I went to work in Healthcare, and I became the baby in the group.
Also the Hip and Trendy Tech startup culture, has a lot of (age, sex, race)ism, and even if you look older and not as bro(y) enough, you are really left out, not because of your skills, but because you just don't fit in what the company thinks a Hip and Trendy company should look like. Young Male White guys, sketching flowcharts on smart-boards, getting to work early and staying late.
I wouldn't consider a cluster uptime to be a fare comparison against a single computer server. This is why Cloud services are not going down all the time, because they too are clustered. And if the cloud service provider is actually good at their job, failure don't cause outages.
I Know, I know faster transmission, of data doesn't necessarily require more power. Just a higher frequency signals of the data. Which gets increasingly harder to read, and more prone to interference. But 40Gbs in a cable that most people will coil up to keep the wires organized just seems like something prone to problems. Unless USB4 cables will have a ton of insulation, to prevent the outside world from interfering with it. Or will it have more error checking thus this 40Gbs is just a theoretical speed, and it is actually much slower in real life, because it keeps on on having data loss.