Re: Four York****remen and 64 gig memory

In article <1190374352.700746.177850@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
j.deboynepollard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (J de Boyne Pollard) writes:

FM>> Something is terribly WRONG, when we improve the speed of
FM>> the processor by an order of magnitude or more, do the same
FM>> with the amount of memory available, increase the speed of
FM>> the disk-drives by almost half that ... and the result is
FM>> noticeably SLOWER operation when we load the "latest
FM>> and greatest" software!

>JdeBP> The things that are terribly wrong are your assumptions,
>JdeBP> that the tasks being performed are actually equivalent
>JdeBP> and that processor, disk, and memory speed are the
>JdeBP> sole bottlenecks in any computing process.  Charlton
>JdeBP> Wilbur made the point earlier in this very thread that
>JdeBP> the software does more.  It obviously requires repetition.

CG>> The question we're asking is not whether the software does more.
CG>> That much is obvious.  What we're questioning is whether we
CG>> _need_ it to do more.  [...]

>It isn't obvious to some.  And to answer your question I suggest that
>you go back to my original message and continue reading the
>_remainder_ of the paragraph that I wrote, beyond the point where you
>stopped reading and hit the "reply" button.  I suggest reading M.
>McCoy's original message, too.  You'll find that what you wrote at
>length about keyboards versus graphical user interfaces is wholly
>irrelevant to the issue that is actually at hand.

Perhaps, but I can't resist a good rant.  :-)

The point I'm addressing is one that seems to be recurring in your
posts: that just because a piece of software does many things, this
is a good thing that overrides other considerations.  Some of us
(including Frank McCoy) maintain that this is not so.  For instance,
I might want to scribble a few items on a piece of paper for a
shopping list.  With modern software I could turn it into a beautiful
coffee-table book, full of graphics and "user-friendly" features.
But all I want is a reminder of what to pick up when I get to the
store.  Why bother with all that extra stuff?  (Marketroids
notwithstanding, of course - they'd love to sell you the hardware
and software needed to do what is for me a lot of unnecessary work.)

I'm taking issue with a concept that seems to be taking hold in our
society: the idea that just because something can be done, it should
be done.  I once worked with a group of consultants who weren't that
hot when it came to system design, but they did have some nice slogans.
One is particularly appropriate here: "Never confuse effort with results."

-- 
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