16 Apr
2011
16 Apr
'11
1:24 p.m.
Nietzsche is dead, too.
On Sat, 16 Apr 2011, Chuck Guzis wrote:
I've lost the original thread on this, but ISTR
that the subject
thread wasn't terribly relevant.
IIRC, it was in one of the more distant forks of the "Columbia Terminates
Kermit" thread.
I was thinking about Fred's statement quoting the
business about
"nobody programs today, nor ever will program" in assembly again.
It was Clancy and Harvey, who took over the lower division undergraduate
CS program at UC Berkeley. They said, while pushing SCHEME (a LISP
variant), "Nobody programs in assembly any more, nor ever will again."
I don't remember which one of them said it, nor even which of them is
which. Does conflating them signify contempt?
To a certain extent, save for a few exceptions
(embedded, low-cost
devices, special purpose-built hardware, etc.) I think it's probably
true.
. . . and compiler writing, and speeding up an OS enough that it can get
out of its own way (can the interrupt handler complete before the next
interrupt? or will we fill the stack with interruptions of interruptions?)
Yes, it is no longer "mainstream". But, I contend that it is a critically
essential niche, and loss of it, just because it is a small niche would be
disastrous.
But, most of all, I REFUSE to accept the truth of it.
even when the college found out that I have an MLIS, cancelled my
Assembly Language class, and reassigned me to be a librarian :-(
Consider: When was the last HP-16C calculator sold?
Why did HP quit
selling it, but still sells the HP-12C financial calculator to this
day? It would seem that if there were really a market, the 12C
chassis could be reprogrammed to continue the 16C line. But it's not-
-because few need to sit over a dump and work out what went wrong.
Because nobody works at that level any longer; it would not be a
profitable product for HP.
The few that do, scramble to get certain things on eBay.
In addition,
TI "Programmer" (both variants)
Casio CFX-40, CFX-400 scientific calculator watch (wow those go for a lot
on eBay!)
Fortunately MOST "scientific" calculators have at least some number base
capabilities
As much as I hate to admit it, the quote from Fred is
probably closer
to the truth than I'd care to admit.
As we move from being a production economy to an almost entirely consumer
economy, invention, creation, development, understanding, and even general
education are becoming less "valued".
FWIW, I use my 16C practically every day. But I'm
old.
I guess that it's a good thing that we will be dead before the handbasket
reaches hell.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com