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#111
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Mxsmanic wrote:
David Maynard writes: And all the advancements in automobiles over the past 100 years have been 'wasted' because one still can't go faster than 35 MPH in a 35 MPH speed zone. Not all, but certainly those related to higher maximum speeds. Oh? You've never seen a higher than 35 MPH speed limit anywhere? And since you think "all the additional hardware horsepower has been absorbed by bloat" then why don't you run DOS on a 386 and do your video editing with it? Nobody sells 386 machines any more, and no current software runs on them. That doesn't answer the question it just begs it. Not to mention there are plenty of 386 machines available and good old, non bloated, software to run on them. That *was* your complaint, remember?, that the 'current' software, compared to the earlier software, was just added bloat and did nothing but use up hardware speed. So the old stuff should be just the ticket. I prefer a GUI for desktops, anyway. The GUI absorbs a huge amount of machine capacity, though. Clearly it's providing something useful for the consumed capacity since you seem to be adamant about keeping it even in the face of earlier 'non bloated' alternatives. |
#112
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Mxsmanic wrote:
David Maynard writes: That it's almost universally popular is defacto proof it's not just "a really stupid way to do things." Popularity is not necessarily evidence of technical superiority. I didn't say anything about technical "superiority." I was dealing with "really stupid" and there's a huge range in-between the two. The entire x86 architecture is a case in point. I would still maintain that 'popular' precludes "really stupid" and that 'technical superiority', as commonly used by engineers, isn't necessarily 'the best'. Maybe if you put more effort into understanding why it's done that way it wouldn't be such a mystery. No need. It wastes memory. No, it uses memory for a purpose, just as anything else does. And just because the one and only criteria you have, to the exclusion of all else, is 'memory' doesn't make other considerations "really stupid." This is one reason why no amount of address space will ever be enough. The real reason is that increasing processor power and larger memory capacities allow previously impractical things to be done. You can accommodate real-world needs with a certain number of bits, 640K is more than anyone could ever need, eh? but you cannot compensate for stupidity with any number of bits. Actually you can, to some degree, with programs that contain knowledge and capabilities the user does not, but that's an entirely different topic. |
#113
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Mxsmanic wrote:
Phil Weldon writes: Compare the cost of one mainframe I/O controller with the cost of 10 desktop computers. The mainframe I/O controller costs less to build, but margins in mainframe hardware land can be as high as 95% or more. With 'margin' defined as what? |
#114
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Mxsmanic wrote:
Al Dykes writes: Other ways ? Mainframes invented VM in the 60's, went from 24 bit to 31 bit addressing in the 70's and had multi-gigabyte memory configurations in the 80s. Mainframes have handled I/O with fully independent I/O controllers for decades. They also cost a ton of money, not to mention their purpose isn't to be a 'PC'. No dedicated main memory required, and highly efficient I/O. Good example of the "appropriately inappropriate measurement criteria" though. Why isn't my car equipped with rocket motors? Space craft have been using them for decades. |
#115
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kony wrote:
On Thu, 19 May 2005 06:29:54 -0500, David Maynard wrote: snip rather that the developers seem to have little to no concern about the escalating storage requirements nor memory to run applications. Just because memory is far cheaper than it used to be, that doesn't mean I find it acceptible for a developer to take a view that they don't have to follow good practices. In the first place, I don't know that they "don't follow good practices" but would you feel better if programs cost more with fewer features in exchange for fitting in less memory? Because that choice is certainly available and for less money as well. I don't feel it would cost more nor have fewer features. If one removes cost and features then why do you think they're writing anything to begin with? Hey Bob, I want you to rewrite X. Ok, Why? Oh, no reason, just to use up memory. Not a very likely scenario. Cost is somewhat fixed, what the market will bear That's why new features have to wait till other costs come down, such as more powerful processors and cheaper memory, or less costly development processes made possible by more powerful processors and cheaper memory. someone buys the application(s) without foreknowledge of the bloat. As for features, yes I'd be willing to do without the features that seem to take up hundreds of MB of space, since an entire office suite can take up under 50MB. Then use that one. Problem solved. I'm not saying that's the 'sole' reason but it's certainly one. We could also debate whether we *want*, or agree with, some of those 'features' but that's another matter. Sure, but suppose an app has 10% additional features added over 2 versions but grows by 50%. Then I'd say it takes a 50% growth to get those 10% more features. It's obvious you think there should be some 'numerical equivalency' between your 'features' measure and 'growth' but I have no idea why. If, for example, getting a 10% improvement in acceleration for my car cost 50% more I'd probably say it wasn't worth it, unless it meant I'd win at Indy. There just isn't any 'correlation' between 'feature' and 'growth', per see. It's the value of the feature vs what it costs that matters and, as the example shows, that depends on the user and the application. A better argument relating to automobiles is, what do I care if i haul around 200 lbs. of bricks in my truck everywhere even though I have no need for them, since my engine has the extra power and efficiency over one made 40 years ago. While it's a shame the car dealer couldn't be bothered to take the bricks out of the trunk when it was sold to me, I can still drive around therefore all is right in the world. I disagree that it's a better example, or even consistent with your argument, because it not only necessitates a presumption there's no reason whatsoever to the 'bloat' I consider the bloat to be the unnecessary parts by definition, not merely that it's larger than a former version was... so it seems our concept of bloat varies. No, what varies is, as I said, your presumption that there's no reason for the increase in size so that you call it bloat. I'm contending there *is* a reason for the size increase and that's why I put "bloat" in single quotes. ...but one also has to waste effort and resources just to acquire/make and put the bricks in the car Code generally comes from somewhere. It's acquired/made and put into the application. Precisely. And people do not expend that effort for no reason. But your example has people expending effort making/acquiring bricks and putting them in the car for no reason. It doesn't fit. when being 'lazy', or incompetent, the charge you seem to be making against the coders, would leave them out. Could be laziness, incompetence, lack of sleep, deadlines, or general apathy, among other reasons I can't foresee. People don't write code, or make bricks, when they're asleep, nor out of apathy. It tales effort and people don't expend effort for no reason. Note that my car example made no assumptions about the merit of any particular 'improvements' (an eye of the beholder type of thing), nor does it claim monotonic improvement, just as I don't claim those things for any particular moment in time for software. However, over the long haul cars have become more complex and more powerful all to go the same speed in a 35 MPH zone. Now, I would contend they're also more comfortable, Comfortable? Naw, I feel like a sardine in anything modern, even with the car is big the dashes these days wrap around, plus the center divider... I feel as cramped in an SUV as I felt once in a long-ago friend's ~ '80 Ford Escort. And no, it's not me that's now bloated. ;-) Hehe. Well, you picked the wrong car then ...have better acceleration, better handling characteristics, higher top end for freeway cruising, are safer and a better value, among other things, but then the point was one can make any irrational argument if you pick an appropriately inappropriate criteria to measure against. So we use a 35 MPH zone and ignore the rest. Sure, they are better but if you recall my plans for doughnuts in your back yard, well the front-wheel drive kinda kills that idea. You're loosing sight of the point. It was the "appropriately inappropriate measurement criteria." It's a popular politician's trick (as is overstating a case to the point of absurdity). You're pretty daring bringing politics into a discussion. What will the trolls think? Hehe Daring? Heck, everyone hates politicians and I made no 'partisan' reference whatsoever. That may be a good point, or may not. Suppose the video editing app had become more and more bloated onto the point of being less efficient than it should be. Suppose it's 10% slower as a result. 10% could be considered the price different between two different models of CPU, are you happy to pay more for the faster CPU so the developer can profit more by not making the effort to code better? You're going to pay for it whether code gets better or worse Not necessarily true, I actively seek smaller apps that will fit my needs... You're still paying for it. Or did for what you have, just as with anything else. and still use Office 97 more than the newer versions even though I've a license for O2K/XP. Seems that along with the bloat, Excell leaves crap behind in spreadsheets that can only be removed with '97 verison or manually editing them which I do hate to do. Probably a patch somewhere for that, don't care enough to look since '97 does the job. I don't drive around in Ferraris either but that's hardly a comment about the automobile industry in general. and the coding, on average, is going to be whatever 'the state of the art' is. If it isn't then that company looses market share and/or goes out of business, sooner or later, and the programmer is out of a job. You might be making a leap there about state-of-the-art coding. Might it be just the opposite, that they're not at all using state of the art coding and this is why we have massive bloat? No. The amount of code, and memory, consumed per 'feature' is the state of the art. The market place assures that. That you apparently don't 'agree' with the techniques is another matter, but then it's easy to be critical when one doesn't have to make the decisions. Which gets back to the market: it forces the decisions to fit. Consider how many 1MB-15MB apps are out there, then what more some of the massive Adobe, Macromedia, and Microsoft apps do. Even when you choose minimal installs it insists on dozens of MB. I suppose it's a matter of choice, I choose to avoid them even with ample memory and HDD space... but then that may be part of why I always have plenty of both without having to go to extra measures to get there. I'm a big fan of only upgrading for a need, not just to have the latest apps. Could partialy be because I don't have to fool with warez I suppose, over the years have accumulated plenty of stuff. You're doing what I challenged mxsmanic to do: use the older software. And that's a perfectly fine choice as long as it suits your needs, but it says nothing about 'bad coding'. Passing the buck is ok as long as it doesn't stop here. But you're inventing a new argument. His was not a '10%' musing of the margins. It's absolute: "all... has been absorbed." Praise be to Landru. True. |
#116
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CBFalconer wrote:
kony wrote: David Maynard wrote: snip rather that the developers seem to have little to no concern about the escalating storage requirements nor memory to run applications. Just because memory is far cheaper than it used to be, that doesn't mean I find it acceptible for a developer to take a view that they don't have to follow good practices. In the first place, I don't know that they "don't follow good practices" but would you feel better if programs cost more with fewer features in exchange for fitting in less memory? Because that choice is certainly available and for less money as well. I don't feel it would cost more nor have fewer features. Cost is somewhat fixed, what the market will bear someone buys the application(s) without foreknowledge of the bloat. As for features, yes I'd be willing to do without the features that seem to take up hundreds of MB of space, since an entire office suite can take up under 50MB. I, for one, usually prefer simpler programs which are properly controllable. The general Unix philosophy of connecting simple things with scripts and pipes is far more flexible, understandable, and controllable. Not to mention more accurate. Perhaps true except for the 'understandable' part. It's a heck of a lot easier for the general purpose user to operate with GUIs, pre-canned configurations, and wizards in semi familiar English contexts than it is to learn a gaggle of separate commands and their peculiar syntax. Of course, the most flexible and controllable computer is one with no software at all. You can then make it do whatever you want without constraint from things like what someone else's vision of a proper O.S. is. Be even more flexible and controllable if you made your own computer right down to custom ICs. |
#117
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Phil Weldon wrote:
I don't feel it would cost more nor have fewer features. Cost is somewhat fixed, what the market will bear someone buys the application(s) without foreknowledge of the bloat. What you feel may not be true (assuming you are thinking of large programs and operating systems.) There is a very good economic reason programs and operating systems are get larger. In 1966 computer time (for a mid-top-range computer) cost $200 US per hour. In 1966, programmer time (for a mid-top-range computer) cost $4 US per hour. Programs were very small, and a lot of people time was spent specifically to make those programs small. Speed was sacrificed for small size. The size and shape (features) of software was constrained by programming cost vs. computer facility time, memory storage size, mass storage size, processing speed, and mass storage speed. Every single one of these factors has changed dramatically. That is all just SO true. Programmers used to go through incredible efforts just to squeeze things into severely limited resources. And it made sense when a Kbyte of RAM ran into the thousands of dollars but, as you aptly point out, what's the point in reverse? Spending thousands in code optimization rewrites just to 'save' a few pennies of space? Not to mention you wouldn't 'save' the pennies because no one could afford the program to being with. Completely new capabilities have arisen. Almost all processing used to be in 'batch mode'; real time interaction wasn't necessary. Many systems did not even have interrupts. Displays were rows of lights, or at most, a 30 cps teletype. Magnetic tape storage was very low in density, 800, 1600, or (gasp) 3200 bits per inch, 8 or 9 tracks; 1 INCH long data blocks, 1/2 INCH interblock gap. Not a whole lot of code is necessary for such low densities and I/O speed. If you REALLY want smaller code, then what do you want to give up? If you REALLY want smaller code, then why not have applications that only have the capabilities YOU use? If you REALLY want smaller code, then why not write your own applications, or hire system analysts and programmers (and testing and quality control personel)? Is it better to have capabilities you MIGHT need, or to save 1 Gbyte hard drive storage (at a cost of $1 US)? Capabilities you don't need at the present are probably in use by others, and might be needed by you in the future. Try making a list of the capabilities you are willing to forego, and then compare against similar lists by other users. Examples 1. I'd be quite willing to forego grammar checking in 'Word'. 2. I'd be quite willing to forego working on spreadsheets within 'Word'. 3. I'd really, really like to lose many capabilites in Adobe Reader. 4. I am NOT willing to forego viewing html in email and websites. But 1. Some users may actually think 'Word' grammar checking is useful. 2. Some users may feel that manipulating spreadsheets within 'Word' boosts productivity. 3. Well, Adobe Reader is free, so ... 4. Some users seem quite happy with text only. The two sample lists above bring up still another important point. Once there were thousands of computer users and thousands of very specific, well defined uses. Now, the majority of the population, middle school or above, in each industrial country is a user, each with a general list of flexible tasks. Well put. That's a necessary part of the economies of scale equation. |
#118
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Phil Weldon wrote:
Don't forget the other extreme the head-per-track magnetic drum, Yeah. That's what I was referring to with "heads all over the place." the multi-disk, single head RAMDAC from IBM circa 1964 There were all sorts of interesting things. I just didn't run into all of them The 30 incher was strange not just from the size but because it looked like a home hobbyist took a chunk of aluminum, cut it round, and stuck it on motor. No fancy air controlled environment, no 'tight tolerances', etc. Rather primitive. "David Maynard" wrote in message ... . . . Oh yeah, drums. The ones with heads all over the place were impressive, and expensive as all get out. The strangest 'disk drive' I ran across was a real old one, still in service, that was a huge 30 inch, or so, diameter aluminum disc mounted vertically. Capacity was something like 250K. |
#119
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Just a note; the Hubble Space Telescope uses 80486 CPUs. Wonder how much it
cost to write THAT set of tight code? "David Maynard" wrote in message ... .. .. That doesn't answer the question it just begs it. Not to mention there are plenty of 386 machines available and good old, non bloated, software to run on them. , , |
#120
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I left out a word - should have read "Don't forget the other extreme FROM
the head-per-track... The head-per-track I worked with was the RCA Spectra 70-47; 256 KBytes main memory (1 Microsecond cycle time for a 4 byte word0 and an 8 Mbyte head-per-track drum as a page file (my alpha Spyder could park in the shipping case.) "David Maynard" wrote in message ... Phil Weldon wrote: Don't forget the other extreme the head-per-track magnetic drum, Yeah. That's what I was referring to with "heads all over the place." the multi-disk, single head RAMDAC from IBM circa 1964 There were all sorts of interesting things. I just didn't run into all of them The 30 incher was strange not just from the size but because it looked like a home hobbyist took a chunk of aluminum, cut it round, and stuck it on motor. No fancy air controlled environment, no 'tight tolerances', etc. Rather primitive. "David Maynard" wrote in message ... . . . Oh yeah, drums. The ones with heads all over the place were impressive, and expensive as all get out. The strangest 'disk drive' I ran across was a real old one, still in service, that was a huge 30 inch, or so, diameter aluminum disc mounted vertically. Capacity was something like 250K. |
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