TITLE: "Don't Break the Phone; Fix the Computer"
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: October 24, 2012 11:38 AM
DESC: 
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BODY:

Rob Pike in
<A HREF="http://rob.pike.usesthis.com/">
   The Set-Up</A>:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 Twenty years ago, you expected a phone to be provided everywhere
 you went, and that phone worked the same everywhere.  At a friend's
 house, or a restaurant, or a hotel, or a pay phone, you could pick
 up the receiver and make a call.  You didn't carry a phone around
 with you; phones were part of the infrastructure.  Computers, well,
 that was a different story.  As laptops came in, people started
 carrying computers around with them everywhere.  The reason was to
 have the state stored on the computer, not the computer itself.
 You carry around a computer so you can access its disk.

 In summary, it used to be that phones worked without you having to
 carry them around, but computers only worked if you did carry one
 around with you.  The solution to this inconsistency was to break
 the way phones worked rather than fix the way computers work.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah, the memories of grad school, WYSE terminals, and VT-100 emulation.

The advent of ubiquitous networking is making it possible for us to
return to the days of 
<A HREF="http://www.linfo.org/dumb_terminal.html">
   dumb terminals</A>.
Is that where we want to live?

Pike's vision notwithstanding:  I still carry a computer, both for
state and processor.  I access networked computers frequently.  I
do not yet carry a phone.  I remain happy.
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