Re:Tell HN: Facebook is blocking the publiccode.eu open lett...
by Beldin on Thursday April 28, 2022 @08:02AM
(#31191488)
> Electronic computers have essentially been around for a century.
That's like saying cars have been around for more than a millennium, since the Romans and Egyptians already had horse-drawn carriages.
World War 2 spurred innovation in automated computing. Post-war, the first computers appeared. Still not enough for the famous quote from the 60s "i believe there's a world market for maybe 5 computers".
Whether or not that's an urban legend, in the 60s, that quote was not a priori ridiculous. And let's not claim that less than 5 suffices for "being around" (eg, animals considered extinct have later been found in such numbers).
Nevertheless, let's graciously say that computers have been around since 1960. That's 62 years; rather far short of a century.
That's like saying cars have been around for more than a millennium, since the Romans and Egyptians already had horse-drawn carriages.
World War 2 spurred innovation in automated computing. Post-war, the first computers appeared. Still not enough for the famous quote from the 60s "i believe there's a world market for maybe 5 computers". Whether or not that's an urban legend, in the 60s, that quote was not a priori ridiculous. And let's not claim that less than 5 suffices for "being around" (eg, animals considered extinct have later been found in such numbers).
Nevertheless, let's graciously say that computers have been around since 1960. That's 62 years; rather far short of a century.