Emulation or the real thing?

From: Bill Yakowenko <yakowenk_at_cs.unc.edu>
Date: Wed Oct 21 13:58:22 1998

] From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_ncal.verio.com>
]
] SO how long is it before some really enthusiastic hacker creates a 3D
] emulator using a graphics engine like that in DOOM, that allows you to pop
] ...

And how long before the machine on which that emulator runs is no
longer supported by its manufacturer, and starts breaking down?
Well, I suppose by then, state-of-the-art systems will be able
to emulate *that* thing faster than the original.

Prediction: 100 years from now, pick any random business, and
dig into their computer system. You will find that at least
some of their software is "legacy code" running under an emulator
for some long-forgotten machine. And if you dig further, you
will find that at least one such emulator is itself being emulated.
Don't be too surprised if the legacy app is IBM 360 code running
under an emulator written for a Wintel x86 box, and the x86 box
is being emulated by... maybe a Java (non-virtual) machine?

Cheerful thought for the day: someday the Wintel x86 platform
will be long-forgotten. :-)


My $0.02, the original hardware pushes all of my motivation
buttons harder than an emulator could. Nostalgia, Revenge,
Education, Preservationism, Usability, Money; only usability
*might* be completely satisfied by an emulator. Of course,
the emulator pushes those buttons harder than a complete
void would.

In an odd way, an emulator could hit the Money button better
than the original hardware: although it doesn't have higher
resale value, it should be cheaper to obtain. But this was
about which you'd rather have, not which you were more likely
to succeed in getting, right? So maybe the real thing wins
on the Money button as well.

Hmm. It seems the emulator would push the motivation buttons
for when NOT to collect, better than the real hardware would:
Cost, Space, Noise, Breakdowns (for us software geeks, those
are not exactly fun), Transportation, and Spousal discord;
all the things associated with having physical STUFF.

        Bill.
Received on Wed Oct 21 1998 - 13:58:22 BST