from wikipedia:
Wirth’s law is an adage on computer performance which states that software is getting slower more rapidly than hardware is becoming faster
hardware doesn’t degrade, yet a lot of devices, that felt very snappy in the beginning, that are merely 5 years old feel outdated and slow, because if a trillion dollar corporation can’t be bothered to write a native application, and graces us with a control bar widget that’s an entire chromium browser, whose only purpose is to push two buttons, then very few others will be
on mobile, because developers are practically forced to write an app for absolutely everything, and there are easy to use tools available that will take your js and compile it into native components (like reactnative and nativescript), otherwise your app will be crippled, it is less pronounced on mobile in my opinion
on desktop, because you can write applications however you want, every bloody thing is in electron: chat apps, text editors, IDEs and even terminals and browsers (lol), it’s a complete disaster in my opinion, even a person like me, who wages holy war against electron apps, is forced to use a couple electron applications (looking angrily at you discord and zoom 😡)
the problem is that most people start with (and never go on from) javascript as their first (and final language), which is an interpreted language, made to be run in a browser, that was designed in like two weeks, and the expectations are sky-high (apps that utilize native components across five operating systems and two processor architectures), and the unfortunate result of these requirements is electron
there are some emerging solutions like extremely cross-platform flutter (but it’s not js) and there are now native macOS and windows targets for react native, but it’s rarely used
it seems like unless there will emerge some framework, that would magically sip out the project from the developer’s mind in js and transform it into native apps for ios, android, linux, macOS and windows, with zero modifications required from the developer, we have little hope, and such a framework would not only be a silly project, but also an effort of astronomical proportions
so we’re stuck with either iron grip control of corporations over mobile platforms that force everyone to write an app for everything, or with the freedom of the desktop, but we end up running 15 instances of chromium, not to mention the fragility of the web standards nowadays
what do you think?
I guess it comes down to the choices that consumers make, and to woke-sufficiency.
I’m quite attracted by the RaspberryPi marketing of their Pi4 - the idea that this SBC is enough for doing most of what you need to do. This gives a lightweight OS, and lightweight apps.
If everyone started saying “something of the power of the RPi is sufficient”, then perhaps things would change. The perennial deal-breaker problem is though : people want to use certain apps.
I’m not quite buying this. First of all, most people are forced to use some bloated OS and software at work. This means they get used to certain apps and unless they have a specific interest in say Open Source, they won’t look into alternatives. Schools, universities, etc. all get “sponsored” by big tech as well, leading to further market capture.
Secondly, things like Linux are presented by large corps as complicated, which simply isn’t true but again, the large corp would have some credibility bonus.
In general, the computer industry is largely consolidated from a customer perspective to a number of large players that scare people actively away from open solutions. As with nearly everything, you cannot vote with your wallet, since the markets are heavily tilted towards large corporations.
Finally, what is “woke-sufficiency”?
Woke-sufficiency is the moment when someone realizes that they don’t need a sledgehammer to crack a nut (whatever the advertisers might say).
I’ve made the point for a long time that if we could get proprietary software removed from education, and get it mandated that hardware should be sold without pre-installed software, then it would basically be all over for proprietary companies in a generation. If Work were presented with the chance to save €40 on every laptop/desktop bought by not having the Micro$oft license included in the price : I’m sure they’d at least start looking at the alternatives.
But bloat isn’t the reserve of proprietary OSs and apps either… Linux OSs seem to need more power than they used to, and there’s feature creep in open source apps too.
Yes, generally agree.
However the bloat in Linux can be managed more easily and is nowhere as intense. Even old RPis and old laptops are still usable after 10+ years.
My IT experience at work has been deteriorating for at least 6 years now. It is now at a stage where I go back to handwritten notes and MS Notepad, because those generally don’t crash my work laptop that often.
The other areas where there is intense bloat is phones. After de-googling my phones (incl. custom ROM), everything works more smooth and the battery typically lasts 50% longer (guestimate). I’ve de-googled probably over half a dozen phones so far and the end product was always way smoother and faster and much extended battery life.
This might not be a popular thought but : phones have far exceeded their remit - they’ve been capable handheld computers for the best part of a decade now - probably since they became powerful enough to do multitasking. I’m still a great fan of Mark Shuttleworth’s idea of convergence… It’s such a pity that didn’t take off. Most people’s handhelds are way more powerful than they need to be for what they do with them.
I agree with this. The new pinephone docks to a monitor and becomes a computer. If you could do this with the new $1000 iphones, it would be more than sufficient. I’ve read recently that the A15 bionic outperforms several last generation gaming consoles. Unfortunately, doing this would also kill the company’s market for laptops. Not just Apple, but also Google with their chrome books.
Would really be cool to just bring your phone to work and plug it in and you have a fully functioning desktop. Would be an absolute privacy nightmare though.
I wonder why Pine64 didn’t use their 8GB board for their PinePhone Pro… that really would have been a game-changer.
I guess there were power problems, or heat issues.
Absolutely! I think any extra power in the phones is simply used to suck up more data and telemetrics. The phones get faster so the Samsungs, Googles and Apples can run their useless extras for their own benefits.
That’s why the phones run so much smoother once you e.g. remove google and put on a custom rom
I absolutely agree that there’s bloat (for companies’ advantage) in phone OSs, and that a better experience is had with an open source alternative.