Article on old software programs (for IBM, Apple, Borland, etc)

From: John Foust <jfoust_at_threedee.com>
Date: Fri Aug 20 13:46:13 1999

At 11:04 AM 8/20/99 -0600, Richard Erlacher wrote:
>
>I don't think we'll have to wait long for a situation to arise, in which one
>links to a site on the web, is fed a download of configuration data which
>defines how the system on which one's running is to be defined, then reads
>the code which will be executed on the specifically configured "hardware"
>environment. Instead of the hardware defining how the software must be
>configured, the software will define the way in which the hardware addresses
>its requirements.

It's already here. The Transmeta CPU could work that way.
Field-programmable gate arrays (Xilinx chips) have existed for
many years, so who knows how they're being used.

For example, the circa 1992 Video Toaster for the Amiga relied
heavily on these chips to perform real-time video manipulations.
Load a new transition, reprogram the array.

- John
Received on Fri Aug 20 1999 - 13:46:13 BST