Newsgroups: alt.os.multics,alt.folklore.computers,comp.lang.lisp
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!udel!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!news.cs.utah.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!newshub.nosc.mil!news!mshapiro
From: mshapiro@nosc.mil (Michael D Shapiro)
Subject: Re: Retro-Computing!
Message-ID: <1995Apr3.170615.19565@nosc.mil>
Sender: news@nosc.mil
Organization: NCCOSC RDT&E Division, San Diego, CA
References: <D5yxwn.5BG@sdf.saomai.org> <BILLW.95Mar26154351@glare.cisco.com> <3ledga$rcr@news2.delphi.com> <3005824130.421406@naggum.no>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 17:06:15 GMT
Lines: 28

In article <3005824130.421406@naggum.no>, Erik Naggum  <erik@naggum.no> wrote:
>[THUNDERONE@DELPHI.COM]
>
>|   Modern Operating Systems attempt to adapt to the human's needs.  Old
>|   Operating Systems require the human to adapt to them.
>
>"Modern Operating Systems" require different people to adapt to them than
>"Old Operating Systems" did, and in different ways.  what's constant is
>that the human has to adapt to the computer, unless the human is willing
>and able to program it, which the old systems' people were, and the modern
>systems' people aren't.  so people adapt to the computer more today than
>they used to do, only they are told the opposite through clever marketing.

Operating systems are one piece of the software that helps people use
computers to do jobs.  Doing a job requires knowledge of how to do the
job in general and specifics for doing it this time.  With each forward
move of software (operating systems, applications, tools, etc.) we tend
to add to the computer's "knowledge" of how to do the job in general.
Many people perceive this need for them to know less about how to do
the job as an advance in the computer's "adapting to people."  It all
depends on how much pride we have in knowing how the inside of a system
does the job for us.  If we're happy needing to know less, we think
it's an advance.  If we're proud of our (now unneeded) internal
knowledge, we decry it as a retreat.
--
Michael D. Shapiro, Ph.D.                   Internet: mshapiro@nosc.mil
Code 4123, NCCOSC RDT&E Division (NRaD)              San Diego CA 92152
Voice: (619) 553-4080         FAX: (619) 553-4808         DSN: 553-4080
