Seven Generational Ruminations

"Imagine a free phone with no guaranteed contract on the back end. That is all in front of us." This was said by Jonathan Schwartz, the CEO of Sun Microsystems, seemingly to ignite some interest in a vision of the future. It sounds attractive, doesn't it? A cell phone with zero cost to the user, with no contracts and enforced terms, etc... Sounds like nirvana, no cell phone bills.

Apple iPod touch 32 GB with Software Upgrade asin: B0012JNQYK

The "Open Source" meme is making widespread change in the computer industry. Nobody can doubt that, and the change is moving step-by-step through the whole of the computer industry. It means a change from the former normal business practice of having proprietary advantage over your competitors, and using secrecy to preserve that advantage. But I think society as a whole loses from the secrecy, because what's allowed science and technology to flourish is for each succeeding generation to stand on the shoulders of science. But in the computer industry the secrecy actively prevented succeeding generations to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Boy, this is strange. I suppose Corporate Transparency as a meme is traversing into all corners of society, including the CIA. You think of the CIA as the poster child of secrecy and closed access. Well, actually, I'd think the NSA is even more the poster child, but then the NSA is so secretive nobody knows much about them, unlike the CIA.

Anyway, here's the deal:

How To: Hacking the Linksys NSLU2 (By Jim Buzbee – August 10 2004)

Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2 asin: B0001FSCZO

I avidly use open source software and have done so for over 20 years. If you're attentive you'll realize this was well before the term, "Open Source", had been invented, for in the old-time Internet we all just shared stuff with each other. Today the computing world is a bit different, and Richard Stallman was very prescient to start this movement.

At the same time there's an issue that's always displeased me about open source software, and that's the user-interface quality. It's not an accident that I'm typing this from a Mac OS X system rather than a Linux system. I really appreciate Apple for making systems that just work.