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Discussion on: Welcome Thread - v39

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nicbkw profile image
Nic Burkinshaw

So many! I started out designing in pure TTL products like papertape reader/punches and being so excited that we could simplify the design with a single chip - the UART.

The PC didn't arrive until 1981, when a 5MB 5-inch hard drive cost as much as the original IBM PC-XT (about £1200). My first portable was manufactured by Philips and ran CP/M (P2000C).

As a coder, I was modifying the 4096 bytes of assembler that ran 'green screen' text terminals. Every byte was precious. I am staggered by current software bloat, for example, 1.16Gb just by the simple act of 'npm install --save-dev nodemon'.

To actually answer your question, though - the biggest shift has to be the reliance on Google to problem-solve - one could argue that it stifles innovation. People tend not to think an issue through; instead, just search for someone who has done something similar.

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chrisachard profile image
Chris Achard

1.16Gb just by the simple act of 'npm install --save-dev nodemon'

😮 ... I mean - I knew node modules could be big but; ha; that seems excessive :)

Interesting point about Google: immediate answers like that didn't exist even 20 years ago!

Neat perspective; thanks :)

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kitplummer profile image
Kit Plummer

I've found that Google can be used for good. :D

Nic, I think your point about "reliance" is spot on. I don't necessarily think it's bad to use "search" as an extension of our memory. However, it is critically important for us problem-solvers to evaluate that memory for various things. Obviously it's easy to search and find a solution - e.g. a library that provides the functionality we need. We just need to keep going and be concerned with it to some level of depth that makes sense.

I personally struggle with the depth problem a bit. I get super-focused on the problem I'm actually trying to solve and don't always due the diligence required to prevent becoming dependent on external sources of functionality that may not be good.

I've been working on "Trust but Verify" - to think a bit more critically about search results (whether at Google or Github). But man isn't StackOverflow a savior more often than not?

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chrisachard profile image
Chris Achard

But man isn't StackOverflow a savior more often than not?

Absolutely :) sooo many hours saved by just googling for the answer to some problem I'm having (using configuration issues! soooo annoying!) and finding a great SO answer :)