[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: Home Computing

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Posted by Speed Gibson:
Home Computing
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1192416078.shtml


   When did we lose control of our home computers?
   We ran the show for a while, with Altair's, TRS-80's, Apple II's, DOS,
   Windows (3.3), meaning we bought it and it ran. We didn't need IT
   types (I resemble that) to configure things. In fact, we need support
   just to get the damn things running.
   My Linksys network actually reconfigured to my new cable modem the
   first try. I thought I'd give it test drive, upgrading my McAfee
   anti-virus/firewall software that comes with my Comcast service. Gee,
   that only took six hours or so, finally discovering that somehow two
   obsolete modules had disappeared. The current version didn't use them,
   but the upgrade wouldn't proceed unless it could delete them.
   For my next trick, I'll get Firefox to start without trying to apply
   non-existent updates. I could also uninstall some junky software I
   tried and didn't like.
   Thoughout it all, I'm even hearing the calls of the dark side again,
   the Mac world. But I finally met someone who went Mac and did go back,
   unhappy with its environment for Web development. I have also heard
   stories about Mac OS upgrades being no easier or reliable than Windows
   upgrades.
   Mac or PC, we've lost control, with Gates and Jobs smiling as we
   resort to simply buying a new computer.