The State of Personal Computing (Forty Years Later)
Let me start out by stating that when it comes to technology, I have no issues with anyone wanting to monetize their intellectual property. This blog post was written to hopefully get you to think a bit more about the following:
· Computing Freedom
· Data and Technology Ownership
· Your Computing and Data Privacy
For me, it all started one day back in late 1981. That was 40 years ago as of the time of this writing. I remember going with my dad to the local news stand in my hometown in rural South Louisiana. He would go to get out of town newspapers and would also pick up a copy of both Ebony magazine and Jet magazine. I would normally go straight to the comic book isle, but this time I happened to stop by the magazine rack.
Curiosity “educated” the Cat
For the first time ever, I (for the sake of curiosity) picked up a copy of Popular Electronics magazine and started flipping through the pages. My mind was almost immediately transported into a world that I had never experienced before. It was the world of personal computers. The Atari 800, IBM PC, Commodore VIC-20, TRS-80 Color Computer (Color, no less!), Sinclair ZX80, among others had me absolutely enthralled. Enthralled, I tell you!
I was a middle school kid from the sugar cane fields of South Louisiana standing in a virtual, electronics candy store.
The Evolution Must Be Televised - and a bit of history
Although my first home computer was the Commodore VIC-20, it was the IBM Model 5150 (aka the IBM PC) that had me mesmerized. The model 5150 was released back in August of 1981 and not long after that, I watched a TV commercial featuring a Charlie Chaplin character (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQT_YCBb9ao) running around being completely disorganized. He finally used the IBM PC to help him get organized.
At that time, the IBM PC, among others such as the Amiga 500 and Apple IIe were based on what was known as “open architecture”. Open architecture allowed 3rd party vendors to make peripherals such as memory cards, modems, hard drives, floppy drives, etc. that would easily plug into those computers.
A long time ago in a carefully guarded room far far away
Back when electronic computers were first introduced, they were the monopoly of governments and large corporations. They were well guarded in fortress-style rooms where only a select few had the proper clearance to even see them, let alone touch them. It wasn’t until the later half of the 1970s that we began to see a new class of computer being introduced to the world which wasn’t limited to large corporations and governments.
During this time, we witnessed the introduction of such legendary systems as (but no limited to):
--Commodore PET
--TRS-80
--Apple II
Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Commerce and Innovation
Over the decades, I’ve observed how personal computing was evolving. Back in its infancy, the then World Wide Web began slowly ushering in an era of freedom of speech and freedom of commerce such that the world had never seen before and the personal computer was the vehicle by which those freedoms flowed via the likes of Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Prodigy, CompuServe, America Online and various bulletin boards just to name a few.
I remember back when I was in college in the 1980’s seeing a LaserDisc for the first time. In 1983, the now famous “Dragon’s Lair” arcade game became popular all over the country and the game was stored on a LaserDisc within the arcade machine. I recall playing it a few times and when a new level was achieved, the screen would go blank for a moment or two to allow the next level of the game to load from the LaserDisc.
I can remember walking to the computer lab on campus one evening to check out a LaserDisc player that was on display. It was connected to a television and playing recorded news stories hosted by the late Peter Jennings who was back then the anchor of ABC World News Tonight. I remember the picture being so clear (at least by TV standards back then) when compared to watching a VHS recording. You could skip forward and backward in an instant unlike having to rewind and fast forward a VHS tape. The LaserDisc became the foundation for the Compact Disc (CD), Blu-ray and DVD, all three of which replaced the LaserDisc shortly after the turn of the 21st century.
Technology gave us the compact disc which made it possible to watch video, listen to music and it even housed entire encyclopedias. It gave us multimedia at our fingertips. Innovative new products began to appear in the market for consumers.
Imagine it! YOU’RE in control of YOUR computer
In January 1982, Byte Magazine published an article: “A Closer Look at the IBM Personal Computer”. The opening paragraph was a question and answer (see: https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-01/mode/2up):
“What microcomputer has color graphics like the Apple II, an 80-column display like the TRS-80 Model II, a redefinable character set like the Atari 800, a 16-bit microprocessor like the Texas Instruments TI 99/4, an expanded memory space like the Apple III, a full-function uppercase and lowercase keyboard like the TRS-80 Model III, and BASIC color graphics like the TRS-80 Color Computer? Answer: the IBM Personal Computer, which is a synthesis of the best the microcomputer industry has offered to date. It has a number of interesting features and a few flaws, but it is easily the best-designed microcomputer to date.”
Personal computers and so many other types of electronics back then were built with the rest of us in mind. They gave the world the ability to create automated solutions that solved problems in practically every industry known to mankind. No longer were computers the monopoly of governments and large corporations.
If you needed or simply wanted a particular piece of software you’d either write it yourself, have it written for you or go out and purchase a prepackaged application off of a store shelf and install it. What was even nicer is that there were different choices of computing platforms and operating systems. Neither the computer manufacturer nor the operating system vendor (back then) enforced any rules upon us in terms of how and when we should update our computers or even the software running on your computer.
“Is it your computer or is it some company’s computer?”
Fast Forward to today. IBM exited the personal computer market back in 2004 when it sold off its PC business to the Lenovo Group. Today, Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS and Linux hold the top three market share positions for desktop operating systems.
Released back in July of 2015, Microsoft Windows 10 has been marked with criticism due to Microsoft’s privacy and Windows 10 update policies as well as its collection and use of customer data. Windows 10 was the first version of Windows that enforced updates, thus YOU the user were no longer in control of when/if you wanted to update Windows 10. One several occasions, I have had Windows 10 updates interrupt important meetings where I was the facilitator; even to the extent that my system rebooted during presentations. That was completely unacceptable.
Let’s turn to Apple for a few moments. Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) talked about how open the Apple II was and it was the only source of profits for Apple for the first 10 years of the company (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN1djPMooVY&t=446s). Steve asks: “Is it your computer or is it some company’s computer? Think about that.”
Back in 1984, Apple aired a commercial during the Super Bowl where it introduced the Macintosh to the world with the idea that it represented a product with the means of saving humanity from "conformity" and a dystopian (Orwellian) future as it applied to personal computing, which was back then dominated by IBM (i.e. depicted as Big Brother in the 1984 Macintosh commercial).
Indeed that commercial left an indelible mark on culture. AdAge (https://adage.com/article/90-years-ad-age/how-apple-changed-personal-computing-and-super-bowl-overnight/2230376) stated that due to that commercial, “Apple would alter the face of personal computing-and Big Game commercials-overnight”.
The Macintosh line of the past allowed users to update them with third party components. Unfortunately, those days are largely no more. The current Mac Pro which was released in 2019 is practically the only remaining desktop computer in Apple’s line up which affords the end user with the ability to add their own internal, 3rd party components.
What about the M1 Mac mini you ask? Well, although it’s “technically” possible to upgrade the RAM and storage, it’s really a terrible idea to do so as everything is soldered into place (https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/04/06/theoretically-you-can-upgrade-ram-ssd-on-your-m1-mac-mini-but-you-shouldnt).
But wait! What happened to saving humanity from "conformity", Apple? Wasn’t that what the Macintosh line of computers were supposed to do?
I’ll simply say it this way. If someone sells you something that’s locked down and they don’t give you the key to unlock it, then it’s pretty safe to assume that they aren’t doing it for your benefit.
A Mac, a Linux PC and a Windows PC walk into a bar...
Recall earlier in this blog where I mentioned that there is a top 3 list of desktop operating systems that hold the most market share (Windows, macOS and Linux)? Well, let’s talk about the third one.
What is Linux? (see: https://www.linux.com/what-is-linux/)
The Linux operating system has been around since the mid-1990s. I remember first installing it on an Gateway desktop PC in the late nineties. The Linux distribution I chose was then called Mandrake.
Linux runs on practically every type of device. Phones, automobiles, televisions, the Mars Perseverance rover, desktops, laptops, servers, you name it. You use Linux more times on a given day than can easily be counted. Linux is the operating system that powers the majority of servers on the Internet.
Whenever you visit Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Wikipedia or thousands of other major web sites, the services the site provides for you (whether it’s social networking, search results, photographs, or encyclopedic articles) are coming from a computer that is most-likely running Linux.
If you haven’t heard of Linux, you’re not alone, but consider these numbers (see: https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/linux-statistics/):
--In 2021, Linux powers 100% of the world’s top 500 super computers
--23 of the top 25 web sites in the world are powered by Linux
--Over 95% of the world’s top 1 million servers run Linux
--90% of all cloud infrastructure operates on Linux
--Linux is also used to power many mainframes
--Microsoft reports that 60% of their Azure marketplace images are Linux-based (see: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/linux-on-azure/)
Linux is generally viewed as the most reliable and secure operating system available today. I use Linux each and every day. I write my blog posts using a Linux PC as well as pretty much every other computing need that I have.
If you have an Android phone or tablet then it too is powered by the Linux operating system. An operating system is software that manages all of the hardware resources associated with your device. Without the operating system, the software/apps you use wouldn’t function. Think of it another way. Your automobile needs an engine in order for you to get anywhere. Think of the operating system as the engine that powers your computing devices.
Why does it matter? Answer: Privacy, Ownership and Freedom
As you’ve been reading through this blog, you’ll notice how I’ve provided you with some historical context about how the personal computer industry created products that were open and user serviceable. Since the late 1970’s we’ve gone from owning our data, devices and software to subscribing to cloud services and subsidizing many of our devices.
Linux is what is known as a free and open source operating system. Essentially being free and open source means that it’s free to share and distribute. It’s free to modify as its code is publicly accessible.
Linux is also privacy-focused. The software that you choose to use is completely up to you. You even have control over when and whether you want to update it. It won’t eventually be forced upon you as Windows 10 does, nor will it continue to nag you as macOS and Windows 10 do. Linux comes in different flavors and you are free to move to any distribution whenever/if ever you choose.
Linux runs on most Intel-based Macs and Intel or AMD-based personal computers that can run Windows.
Unlike macOS and Windows, Linux affords you the following:
--The freedom to run software, for any purpose
--The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it function the way you prefer
--The freedom to redistribute copies to others
--The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others
I’ve heard over the years that Linux isn’t for everyone and that statement is largely true, but what those who make that statement fail to mention is that Windows and macOS are also NOT for everyone.
Oh! And about that privacy thing again...
Please take a deeper look into the privacy policies of Windows, macOS and Linux Mint
· Microsoft Windows Privacy (https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-US/privacystatement#mainwindowsmodule)
· Linux Mint Privacy (https://www.linuxmint.com/privacy.php) << Each Linux distribution has its own privacy statement
· Apple’s Privacy (https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/)
Where do you go from here?
Ask yourself a few simple questions:
1. Are you concerned about your computing privacy?
2. Do you believe that when you purchase a computer, it becomes your property and you should be able to install and use whatever OS and os-compatible software you want on it?
3. Should you have the ability to choose how and who should upgrade and/or repair your computer?
4. Are you okay with having to buy a new computer to replace a perfectly functioning one just because the operating system vendor has decided to no longer support your current computer?
If the answer to any of those questions is “yes”, then make sure you do your research to determine which operating system best-addresses your concern(s).
I’ll leave you with an excerpt from the Free Software Foundation as a bit of food-for-thought:
Free Software Foundation (https://www.fsf.org/about/):
“As our society grows more dependent on computers, the software we run is of critical importance to securing the future of a free society. Free software is about having control over the technology we use in our homes, schools and businesses, where computers work for our individual and communal benefit, not for proprietary software companies or governments who might seek to restrict and monitor us...”
Keith Keller