Speed now & then (Space and time?)

[Peter Corlett]

On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 04:26:44PM -0600, ben via cctalk wrote:
[...]
> But that is the old fly in the ointment, other software may not be avilable.
> I do run windows and real text screen UNIX is not aviable anymore. All I
> know it is same $$$ cycle as always, BUY the new machine
> for faster software, but you need buy the software that has bug fixes and
> patches for the new system and the software slows down again.
> GUI's gave us 8x bloat and streaming media another 8x bloat.

Decades of being nickel-and-dimed by the Microsoft ecosystem has taught you
that you need to pay for a lot of software. This is far less common on other
platforms.

I'm watching the MNT Reform with some interest as they're much more
user-repairable and -upgradable than typical notebooks, but it's nowhere near
ready yet. The small-run prototype is also an eyewatering €599, so I'll pass on
it for now.

> It is about time NEW notebook computers to come out to let you use them to
> take NOTEs rather than some ap for your phone for notes.

I use a fountain pen and some old file cards for that :)

> PS: Do I need a VALVE computer for the best sounding digital music?

You *could* buy one of those ricer PCs which have a valve amplifier fitted
right there on the PCB, nice and close to all those sharp digital signals and
noisy ground plane. The target market is hipsters who don't understand
electronics.

> PPS: Notice how records are selling again.

There's a lot of talk from the same hipsters about a vinyl resurgence, but the
impressive-sounding percentge issues are against a tiny baselines that's pretty
much an accounting error.

In absolute rather than relative terms, the only growing market for music is
streaming. Spotify is one of those appalling bloated web-wrapper apps I was
railing against. I'm sticking with CDs; they'll even play on my old Amiga.