bitstreamer

Why isn't a computer more like a phone? II

Blogdex 6 February 2005

Pleased to see at No. 6 Why does Windows still suck? by Mark Morfold 4 Feb. 2005, which echoes my, similar, attempts to come to terms to with being sold a lemon, recognising it, but being unable to do anything about it.

Cybershaman's Pick of Useful Free Programmes, a now unudated site, has a few interesting claims which the ordinary PC (Windows) user might learn something from. He talks about DLLs which a computer user might from time to time come across and learn are something to do with working the various parts of the machine.

Check out (search on DLL, maybe, once tou get the page up) what he says about the programming skills of what he called MicroSlop and the reason why you end up buying "unfinished" software. This is not something new, by the way, this goes back to the ark, but is is interesting and understandable by the person who couldn't programme a timestable, but who is still curious, limited by fundamental ignorance of ICT, about what goes on under the bonnet.

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I wrote somewhere about the nuclear power software story (where the guys now working on the programming know nothing about the programmes that were written to run the system 30 years ago, but have to stitch the various programmes to keep everything running because they can't shut down and re-write from scratch). This flow chart/time line of the programming languages is something that would help to expand this story.

posted by Adfero Affero @ 4:39 AM