The coming war on general purpose computers

[GreyGeek]

http://boingboing.net/2011/12/27/the...eral-purp.html

The last 20 years of Internet policy have been dominated by the copyright war, but the war turns out only to have been a skirmish. The coming century will be dominated by war against the general purpose computer, and the stakes are the freedom, fortune and privacy of the entire human race.

The problem is twofold: first, there is no known general-purpose computer that can execute all the programs we can think of except the naughty ones; second, general-purpose computers have replaced every other device in our world. There are no airplanes, only computers that fly. There are no cars, only computers we sit in. There are no hearing aids, only computers we put in our ears. There are no 3D printers, only computers that drive peripherals. There are no radios, only computers with fast ADCs and DACs and phased-array antennas. Consequently anything you do to "secure" anything with a computer in it ends up undermining the capabilities and security of every other corner of modern human society.

[woodsmoke]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

I agree completely GG and

I KNOW PEOPLE WILL LAUGH AND LAUGH AND LAUGH.....but....

a computer that is dedicated is SEPERATE from ANOTHER computer that is DEDICATED.....

Divide and conquer....

if the computer is not "allowed" to talk to another computer then the computers are essentially alone...

and the person standing in front of the monitor is also.......alone....

woodsmoke

[ardvark71]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Hi all...

Inevitably, it will all lead to what was written in Revelation 13:16-17, whether the mark will be computer related or not.

Regards...

[GreyGeek]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

My view of the "mark" is that the one on the forehead represents what a man thinks, while that on the hand represents what he does. Men "mark" themselves. Pointing at embedded RFI chips, or tattoos, or other physical devices or imprints has too many conflicts with what Revelation says: "let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches...". If understanding what is heard requires a 21st century knowledge of technology then the previous hearers of the last 20 centuries didn't have a chance of understanding what was said or written.

[dibl]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Verrrrry interesting speech -- thanks GG!

While I don't expect to live to see the day that general purpose computers (of some kind) are not available, he makes some interesting and apparently valid points.

Here's a different perspective -- when you think back to the beginnings of the technologies of earlier centuries, you can kinda visualize the parallels. During the explosion of mechanized agriculture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, early agricultural tractors such as the International Farmall F-20, were completely general-purpose. Whatever you hooked to the drawbar got pulled, whether a plow, a manure spreader, a hay wagon, or a corn picker. Later the equipment became much more specialized. The Ford Model T, and Model A for that matter, were pretty general-purpose vehicles. Actually you could jack one up and put a belt on a rear wheel, and it made a dandy power source for a grain grinder or an elevator on the farm. Think about early radio and telecommunications equipment -- same phenomenon.

Anyway, I'm not convinced there's a lot to fear from the inevitable specialization that will characterize computing equipment of the future. It seems to me that consumers of agricultural equipment, or vehicles, have never had a better range of choices than they have today. Hopefully the same result will obtain from the specialization in development of new generations of computing equipment.

[GreyGeek]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

And if they did hook one of today's implements up to a belt to power something the makers didn't have in mind the poor farmer would be sued out of existence. I'm reminded of Monsanto's patent on their genetically engineered corn. When wind blew the pollen from fields planted with the corn to fields planted with naturally produced corn, resulting in seeds with the same bug resistance, Monsanto sued the farmers AND WON! Normally, when a bull escapes one farm and damages property on another, the owner of the bull pays for the damages. But, things aren't normal these days.

[SteveRiley]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Inevitably, it will all lead to what was written in Revelation 13:16-17, whether the mark will be computer related or not.

Biblical scholars generally agree that this entire book is written in something of a coded language for one specific audience at one specific time. It wasn't intended to be interpreted literally, or applied broadly across multiple generations. The book does have some wonderful writing, though.

And if they did hook one of today's implements up to a belt to power something the makers didn't have in mind the poor farmer would be sued out of existence.

Me, I'm not too worried about the continual march of progress. There are no more buggy whip manufacturers; the good ones figured out how to build automobile starters. What worries me is what GG alludes to -- the insane desire to copyright or patent everything. Imagine if there were a monopoly on starter motors. Would cars be as popular or inexpensive today?

[MoonRise]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Thanks GG. I'm generally am not held long by speakers us such but he is a good speaker and relayed very clearly a perspective that couldn't really be argued, though I guess there would be some who will try. Again, thanks!

[dibl]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Imagine if there were a monopoly on starter motors. Would cars be as popular or inexpensive today?

Actually Charles Kettering was issued a patent on his self-starter. In the traditional U.S. patent system, there was nothing for consumers to fear from a patent on a useful invention. It is this goofy notion that software code contains inventions that is making life unpleasant.

[MoonRise]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Imagine if there were a monopoly on starter motors. Would cars be as popular or inexpensive today?

Actually Charles Kettering was issued a patent on his self-starter. In the traditional U.S. patent system, there was nothing for consumers to fear from a patent on a useful invention. It is this goofy notion that software code contains inventions that is making life unpleasant.

I agree. +1

[GreyGeek]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

....
It is this goofy notion that software code contains inventions that is making life unpleasant.

I agree with Steve that the march of progress is not worrisome. In fact, energy concerns not withstanding, progress is encouraging! The only fly in the ointment is religious fanaticism and the possibility that fanatics could use their newly created nuclear weapons to achieve "martyrdom" for themselves and death for millions of others, a religiously inspired mass suicide bombing.

The thing that aggravates me the most is our current period of patent madness fueled by greedy politicians bribed by greedier corporations and venture capitalists. When, IIRC, Thomas Jefferson wrote about patents he mentioned that an idea was like a candle flame. Lighting someone else's candle did not diminish the flame on your own. An ill advised patent creates artificial scarcity of candle flames. So it is with patents on things like XOR or other trivial coding concepts that first year students can create without prior knowledge. Each year, for example, coding students create on their own, without outside references, the bubble sort, linked lists, head-tail linked lists and the binary sort, etc... I've had some of my students come very close to "inventing" the Q-sort on their own. That the USTPO would issue Apple patents on rectangles, circles, buttons and lines is absurd. The way things are going they'll issue patents on using articles in front of subjects, or certain adverbs with verbs. Research in creating visual images of what a person is seeing or thinking will lead to all sorts of mischief, to say nothing of patents on tools to uncover "thought crimes". This part of technology is ripe for abuse, and we've developed a government which is all too willing to use it.

[SteveRiley]

Re: The coming war on general purpose computers

Actually Charles Kettering was issued a patent on his self-starter.

I didn't realize that. Thanks for the link.