On Wed, 7 Mar 2001, Richard Erlacher wrote:
> It's not Microsoft ... nor is it any other software house ... it's
> the dummies who prefer the glitz and glamour, taking appearance over
As someone else here stated, perhaps people who lack the intellect to
be able use some random flavor of UNIX, VMS, etc. shouldn't be using
computers. That said, I believe that most computers users are not
incapable of using *NIX, etc.; they're not lacking intellegence,
they're just naieve when it comes to computers, and they would
probably like *NIX, etc. once they began using it.
> substance every time. If it weren't for them, Detroit would have
> been a wasteland decades ago. They're what the US economy survives
> on.
Well designed cars, now turned "classic," are, like classic computers,
vanishing.
Regarding Detroit: After renting a 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis for
nearly two months, I will say that it's not as nice a car as my 1972
Mercury Montego MX Broughm - despite many nice modern features like
dome lights that dim as they go out, however, it's still a much nicer
car than any of the little Japanese cars and most other imports that
I've seen. It's not only Detroit that's deteriorated. Look at
Volkswagens for example; the old VW Beetles were well-engineered, fun
to drive and easy to repair---very nice cars, even if they did crumple
up like tin cans; the new Beetles are, well, annoying. At least
Detroit still makes reasonably nice pick-up trucks like the Dodge Ram
3500 and Ford F550s, even if they can't build useful station wagons
anymore.
New cars are even a pain to drive with one hand on the steering
wheel, and resting one's arm on the window-sill/ledge (or whatever
it's called) when the window is down is not comfortable; strange
design.
Blame the U.S. government for fuel economy regulations that killed off
nice cars, not the U.S. auto manufacturers. It's unfortunate that the
metal has been shaved down to being nearly paper-thin in various
places to make the cars lighter, and that plastic is used where metal
should be used, etc. - these new cars probably won't even last 30
years or more. Alas, safe, solid, comfortable, nearly a ton and much
heavier, 300 to 400-plus horsepower---with relatively simple V8 engine
designs, rear-wheel drive cars seem to be a thing of the past, but
it's not Detroit's fault entirely. Just like the substantial
well-designed, easily repairable, computers, like our beloved PDP-11s,
etc. have gone out of manufacture, so have well-designed,
easily-repairable, cars.
...of course, marketing droids, no doubt, play a major role in the
deterioration of both nice cars and computers.
--
Copyright (C) 2001 R. D. Davis Ancient guru who see future once say:
All Rights Reserved "wise man who meditate upon immortal wisdom
rdd_at_perqlogic.com 410-744-4900 of Bart Simpson's words: "Don't have a cow,
http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd man" will enjoy interesting life."
Received on Wed Mar 07 2001 - 23:27:03 GMT