OT: Sci-fi (was RE: Ultra-portable terminals)

[Fairlight]

When asked his whereabouts on Thu, Jul 27, 2006 at 08:08:59PM -0400, Walter
Vaughan took the fifth, drank it, and then slurred:
> His point was that we should be preserving the a lot more of our current
> computer history with pictures and stories.
>
> Not just sales numbers and units sold (he considers number just old bones
> in a grave), but we should be storing up the reasons (flesh and life) we
> made decisions. The stories of why we started working with filePro those
> 20 so years ago, and why we used it for decades. That's what needs to be
> preserved for the generation studying us a hundred years in the future.

I agree with the principle.  It makes a lot of sense on many levels.

The sad reality is that we have two extremes out there right now.  We have
the "bloggers" (I still refuse to acknowledge that as a real word, hence
the quotes) that think the world wants to read their diaries and their
views on everything under the sun that doesn't actually matter most of the
time, on one side.  On the other, we have the businesspeople who really
only care about one thing:  What's the bottom line?

There are people in the middle that care about the more esoteric areas and
social dynamics of the net and history in general.  They're just becoming
rarer as people in the age bracket that would tend to care the most start
shuffling off the mortal coil.  Most people from my generation forward,
sadly, don't make time for even the facts of history, much less the nuances
of intent, reason, emotion, what have you that back those sometimes tedious
facts.

It -can- be interesting, but the very medium that we're talking about
archiving the esoteria of lends itself far more to the
instant-communication "in the now" type personality.  It's a bit of a
contradiction in terms.

Which makes it all the more interesting to hear someone in the industry
actually say it.  But then, about how old is he?  I'm guessing over 50.
I'd be surprised if I were wrong.  Pleasantly, but surprised.

m->