I've been a PC Tech since '93 and half my 'magic' is rebooting a PC! LOL People don't realize that Windows often screws itself up and rebooting clears the memory.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
- Start date
- Status
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
What we have on PCs in my view is not software, it's Fatware. They leave their electronic droppings like mice in the cupboard. Of course the PC has to be rebooted after trying to manage gawd-only-knows how many bits of cr*p are scattered across its innards. Reboot magic!
You'd feel better too!
You'd feel better too!
Never a problem on my MAC. What PC’s need is a dung beetle memory app that cleans up after programs mess up.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
That's exactly it. Programs that don't manage memory well. They are so widely used it's unreal.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Sloppy programming goes all the way to the top, as always. The tail that wags the dog.
Programmers today don’t worry about getting the most out of the hardware. Computer run so quickly and there’s an abundance of memory. Code can be wasteful. There was a time when every byte mattered. I don’t know how much attention they give to that today.
Years ago, I worked for IBM R&D on factory machine inspection automation. I wrote some software in C and assembly language to optimize performance. The application executed on a PC but was developed in UNIX then ported to the PC. There were really tight timing requirements, visual inspection tasks with cameras had to be completed within so many seconds. Assembly language was used for some subroutines because I found that the PC’s C compiler couldn’t do it as well. It came down to storing numbers in CPU and other registers in memory that could be fetched quickly. Compilers also do not use and release memory in an optimal way.
In the end, programming was important but the compiler also got in the way.
Years ago, I worked for IBM R&D on factory machine inspection automation. I wrote some software in C and assembly language to optimize performance. The application executed on a PC but was developed in UNIX then ported to the PC. There were really tight timing requirements, visual inspection tasks with cameras had to be completed within so many seconds. Assembly language was used for some subroutines because I found that the PC’s C compiler couldn’t do it as well. It came down to storing numbers in CPU and other registers in memory that could be fetched quickly. Compilers also do not use and release memory in an optimal way.
In the end, programming was important but the compiler also got in the way.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
"If a program can't write its own code, what good is it?" — Mel, a real programmer
Hard to do when the OS itself eats its own young.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
Old signs like this one often come with bullet holes. They sell for more at antique shops.
I remember it was an IBM R&D type that told our PC Club in the '90s why we were "going to want their new OS/2 and their proprietary PS/2 Micro Channel Architecture" instead of all that sloppy open source stuff going around at the time. Worked better than knockout drops. No one could remember exactly what all he said except "better" and "faster". Then came PCI and The Attack Of The Clones! But, I guess it depends on your preferences as to who you think the Jedi and the Sith were/are.
.
- Oct 22, 2015
- 21,167
- 256,984
- Disclosures
- I am an affiliate for Ari Cap.
It is the dreary beige box that people [of a certain age] associate with PCs. Had early PCs gone to design school — imagine if your PC was designed by Bang & Olufson — it'd be a different world today IMO
Yeah, I believe that if Steve Jobs hadn't been such an idiot (and a certain male appendage) about marketing, I think Microsoft would never have amounted to much more than a niche player.
Bill Gates came from a family of lawyers. The first thing he did, even before he had a product of substance, was to hire a lot of legal types. Having that in place helped him make a lot of money. At the same time they stole every concept and approach from Apple and announced that it was their idea two years later when they released it.
D
Now that you've imagined a PC designed by Bang & Olufson, imagine one PRICED by Bang & Olufson.
And IBM went on to sell the PC division to Lenovo. Well they gave it to the Chinese, along with a lot of top management that left IBM and moved to Lenovo. Clearly, many didn’t agree with IBM’s decision to sell. Just recently they sold their server business to Lenovo.
Lenovo is now what IBM could have been.
Last edited:
Lenovo, being a Chinese company provided terrible tech support, especially on warranty repairs. The Chinese just didn't understand how to deal with American businesses. About twelve years ago we had a PC Tech in the Police Department who loved Lenovo's. I had moved us to Dell, and he moved the PD to Lenovo. He discovered that when (and with PC's there's ALWAYS a when) he needed warranty service, Lenovo performed poorly. Two PD Techs later and just this year I helped him get rid of the last three Lenovo's. They are now an all-Dell shop. BTW just my 2 cents I have a Dell XPS and it's a pretty nice looking laptop. Weighs 2.5 pounds and is a half an inch thick, but sports a 10th generation Intel i7, 16GB RAM, and a 250GB PCIe SSD. Forgot to mention also a touch screen made out of Corning glass. I don't know why I'm bragging-- LOL-- the City owns it not me!
EDIT: I guess the point I was making is that PC's are starting to look a lot nicer....
Last edited:
I have a doozy of a story about this from the medical research company I worked for. This describes it perfectly!
Here we go, again!
Not sure which of these is most appropriate:
- Status
