There were two brothers that we woodcutters. They lived with their father deep in some woods. Don't ask who they sold wood too, being so deep in the woods, as they sold it to the chipmunks, and were rather sensitive about it. Their father was a master wood chopper, and could clear a small grove in no time. He really enjoyed his life and worked really hard thinking of new and wonderful ways of chopping down trees.
The first son believed the purpose of chopping down trees was to sell them. He wanted to get the trees down and out to the mill ASAP. He sees how productive his father is, so he looks at the axe his father uses and goes and buys one from a nearby chipmunk. Unfortunately the axe is much different from his old axe, and he could barely swing the axe, much less chop down a tree. So he asks his dad, "Dad, How do I chop down as many trees as you?".
"Simple," replies his dad, "Practice. Go through a few months or years and you'll pick up on it."
This made no since to the son, as he saw the purpose of tree chopping as the chopping of trees. Why should he bother himself to learn to use the new axe when he could just use the old axe? It was so easy to do, and no learning curve. So he did the right thing and went back to his old axe.
The second son was the opposite. He believed that the purpose of chopping down trees was twofold. Firstly, it served the purpose of creating lumber, but also provided some sort of fulfillment for him. He looked at his father's axe and saw a wonderful tool that he wanted to master. He acquired and axe and tried to chop down a tree. No luck. So he picks up the manual that came with the axe, reads it, tries again, and fails. So on and so forth, for months. Try and try as he might, the son was not as good as the father, though he was becoming quite skilled. So he joins the local LUG (Lumberjacks Users Group) and asks questions. He discusses things with the other lumberjacks and made connections. But he was smart. He made sure he had learned all he could before venturing to the other lumberjack, who after seeing that he really did know some stuff and want to learn, opened their arms to him..Soon he was well skilled.
I feel like I missed out on that whole time period. I wish I had an Altair. I mean, I look at the computer I'm sitting at. I can see the processor right now, and the ram, and the video card. I'm somewhat versed in the _theory_ of it all, but I have really no conception of any of it. As much as I hate it, I am a mindless drone that has learned how to use a tool, but has not learned the tool itself. I want to understand whats happening.
To many layers of abstraction. We're too far removed from the basis of the Art. Maybe corporations are glad it's so easy. Maybe people all over the world that are sharing information effortlessly are happy. But I'm not. I'm merely a wriggling little user.
I just feel like I missed something. I wish I could find it.
As evidenced by their "They Served In Silence" memorial
I remember some documentary I saw on some history channel had a few clips of what iirc was that memorial. It really freaked me out. It was a Vietnam Mermorial-Esque thing, supposedly all private and not open to the public, and written in the same font as all the other names, in between real names were a couple of "Name Withheld"'s
Speaking of Mt.Dew... I'd love to seem them do a realistic commercial some day. Show the real demographic that they sell to: A bunch of geeks coding, playing games, etc.
(Fade in to back of person typing furiously. Computer next to him has not case and the hard drive is on the desk next to him. We see him exit out of pico and attempt to compile the program he just wrote. Instantly the screen scrolls with errors.
Cut to his face, we see him smile.
Cut to his hand. It reachs for a Mt. Dew, pops the top, and the camera follows the can to the mouth. While he's chugging we see him hit the Up arrow key to recall the last command, hit enter, and the program compiles without problem. Flashy logo with lame slogan like "Choice of a Gnu Generation.)
My thoughts of Jobs aside, I think Apple's best profit has come from it's non-clone products. My understanding of the Clone-Age of Apple was a fiasco, leading to them getting rid of the clones.
While I would love to think that Apple is doing everyone a favor in the future, it just seems like Apple going back into it's shell. If their _not_, though, and this is to help open up Apple, I'd eat my thoughts and do a "Happy Apple Dance" on my desk.
Slashdot Mirror
There were two brothers that we woodcutters. They lived with their father deep in some woods. Don't ask who they sold wood too, being so deep in the woods, as they sold it to the chipmunks, and were rather sensitive about it. Their father was a master wood chopper, and could clear a small grove in no time. He really enjoyed his life and worked really hard thinking of new and wonderful ways of chopping down trees.
.Soon he was well skilled.
The first son believed the purpose of chopping down trees was to sell them. He wanted to get the trees down and out to the mill ASAP. He sees how productive his father is, so he looks at the axe his father uses and goes and buys one from a nearby chipmunk. Unfortunately the axe is much different from his old axe, and he could barely swing the axe, much less chop down a tree. So he asks his dad, "Dad, How do I chop down as many trees as you?".
"Simple," replies his dad, "Practice. Go through a few months or years and you'll pick up on it."
This made no since to the son, as he saw the purpose of tree chopping as the chopping of trees. Why should he bother himself to learn to use the new axe when he could just use the old axe? It was so easy to do, and no learning curve. So he did the right thing and went back to his old axe.
The second son was the opposite. He believed that the purpose of chopping down trees was twofold. Firstly, it served the purpose of creating lumber, but also provided some sort of fulfillment for him. He looked at his father's axe and saw a wonderful tool that he wanted to master. He acquired and axe and tried to chop down a tree. No luck. So he picks up the manual that came with the axe, reads it, tries again, and fails. So on and so forth, for months. Try and try as he might, the son was not as good as the father, though he was becoming quite skilled. So he joins the local LUG (Lumberjacks Users Group) and asks questions. He discusses things with the other lumberjacks and made connections. But he was smart. He made sure he had learned all he could before venturing to the other lumberjack, who after seeing that he really did know some stuff and want to learn, opened their arms to him.
And they all lived happily ever after.
THE END
I feel like I missed out on that whole time period. I wish I had an Altair. I mean, I look at the computer I'm sitting at. I can see the processor right now, and the ram, and the video card. I'm somewhat versed in the _theory_ of it all, but I have really no conception of any of it. As much as I hate it, I am a mindless drone that has learned how to use a tool, but has not learned the tool itself. I want to understand whats happening.
To many layers of abstraction. We're too far removed from the basis of the Art. Maybe corporations are glad it's so easy. Maybe people all over the world that are sharing information effortlessly are happy. But I'm not. I'm merely a wriggling little user.
I just feel like I missed something. I wish I could find it.
As evidenced by their "They Served In Silence" memorial
I remember some documentary I saw on some history channel had a few clips of what iirc was that memorial. It really freaked me out. It was a Vietnam Mermorial-Esque thing, supposedly all private and not open to the public, and written in the same font as all the other names, in between real names were a couple of "Name Withheld"'s
On their own memorial they don't give names?
Weirded me out.
Speaking of Mt.Dew... I'd love to seem them do a realistic commercial some day. Show the real demographic that they sell to: A bunch of geeks coding, playing games, etc.
(Fade in to back of person typing furiously. Computer next to him has not case and the hard drive is on the desk next to him. We see him exit out of pico and attempt to compile the program he just wrote. Instantly the screen scrolls with errors.
Cut to his face, we see him smile.
Cut to his hand. It reachs for a Mt. Dew, pops the top, and the camera follows the can to the mouth. While he's chugging we see him hit the Up arrow key to recall the last command, hit enter, and the program compiles without problem. Flashy logo with lame slogan like "Choice of a Gnu Generation.)
While I would love to think that Apple is doing everyone a favor in the future, it just seems like Apple going back into it's shell. If their _not_, though, and this is to help open up Apple, I'd eat my thoughts and do a "Happy Apple Dance" on my desk.