Change in computers as a hobbiest... 2850

I hear you, brother.

Ironically, these people wind up spending every bit as much time "learning the computer". Unfortunately, their form of "learning" consists of memorizing which series of buttons to push to do something, without gaining any understanding of what's going on inside. But that's not just a computer thing - people have always spent their time memorizing specific cases instead of learning rules that will let them figure out how to handle new situations. And that's a shame.

Sure, but even then most of it is cosmetic - cases with transparent panels (I almost said "windows" but that might be ambiguous :-) so that you can see all the blue lights they've put inside. (What's this obsession with blue lights anyway? My eyes were never capable of focusing on them even long before I became an Old Fart tm.) It's like kids and cars nowadays - lots of glitz but not much in the way of performance. Well, maybe overclocking adds performance - at least until you figure in the time lost rebooting after the crashes which have now become more frequent. But what the heck, the goal isn't performance but bragging rights, so it's OK.

Is there room on that box for me too?

No problem - if you're Microsoft, just redefine "innovation" to mean adding flashy gizmos that serve no purpose. Other than to sucker the peepul into buying the latest version, of course.

Hell, I often ask myself whether I'd have gotten into it professionally if the industry in 1970 was like it is now.

Yup. Makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Don't worry about it. Thanks for sharing. As they say over in rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, pull up a rock, light up a beer. There are lots of us here who remember what we've lost - and what we can regain.

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