Let me add an analogy : music writing by hand vs. software

When you are dealing with very special customized type of music, it is really complicated to translate it from your mind to a graphical program. You can do it well with a pencil on paper, but later you must try to realize what to do to move your ideas to the software capacities (that always will be limited compared with your own expressive writing).

So, in my case, the best solution has been to use Lilypond and to write by hand on Lilypond language, not trying to use those extremely limited graphical toys. And, this carry me to a keyboard, that I can use very efficiently because I began with formal typing studies on a mechanical typewriter a lot of years ago, and complemented with my piano studies in University.

I can use my "finger memory" that it is separated from my thinking, something that permits me to do both at the same time. And I don't need to look at the keyboard to find the letters. And QWERTY it is just perfect, no matter if I am using a Spanish or an English keyboard.

Also, I have two daughters, 8 and 9 years old. They are learning to use the keyboard with some software, and they are very good right now with just some weeks of practice. This means, that QWERTY it is not artificial even for little children, it is fast, it is reliable. Then, what it is the urgency to replace it.?

A different story is with your mobile or tablet. Well, maybe you can't carry a physical keyboard, so you must paint one in the screen ... it is a practical solution, but on a limited device. But if you can attach a physical keyboard things improve several times .. .always.

I like to agree with you ... however.

What country it is not stealing from another one?

The main difference with old and new times is the stealing "method". At the end, we agree on giving something to acquire something, but the one with more power will be the one have more benefits.

You see, in Costa Rica we don't have military forces. They are not needed. But this doesn't mean that we don't have problems ... we have a lot of them, we have corruption, bad management, or lack of it. And at the end, even when we work the same as any person in a developed country, we don't have that country advantages. Why must be like this?

There is a balance everywhere, and this balance never is fair for everybody. About the central management ... can we change that? It is right to change an evil for another one? ... I think that humans are not so fool, but we need to stop thinking that what it is around us it is right and works well.

It is natural for human society. At the end, the "free" in freedom (and this includes the "right" to use) means that somebody it is providing it for some "control" reason.

TCP/IP was created with a military mindset and the Internet inherited that capacity, not only in the technical but also in the political and control part. To think that we can do whatever we like in the virtual space it is an illusion, as false as to say that we can do whatever we like in the physical world. But, what to do?

The important it is to realize that the Internet has a control body somewhere and to learn what can be done and what can't be done there. These are new times, and we need to evolve accordingly.

I think, if you ever used a Chromebook, that you are not playing with LInux native applications in Developer Mode.

Taking into consideration that it is Beta software and that some features (as sound) are not ready, they work very well. I have a Samsung Chromebook Plus machine and I see no difference between a full Linux machine and this Chromebook running the software. But some people will complain, that these programs are just Linux and not ChromeOS native applications as the Windows ones.

The main difference now is that the Web browser, in particular Chrome, grew to be an extremely powerful Graphical User Interface by itself, even capable of running games. What a Web Browser lacks, because never was the intention to have it, is heavy processing layers of functionality ... the Web Browser depend on servers to do the heavy things ... but, just a minute.

Linux it is wonderful running background functionality. Through all the Internet and in many of our appliances we have Linux based server software without a GUI doing very good work. And ... why not to mix them in the same machine? The heavy things running in the new LInux compartments and the Graphical stuff in the Browser? ... then, the Chromebook it is not a toy, it is really a better machine concept than a standard notebook where everything it is mixed producing all sort of troubles. It is a type of machine designed for the current state of affairs in computing and, in particular, security.

Whatever happens with ChromeOS and Windows, I think that the 1980s model to do things arrived to an end. It is not just practical. And when you see Microsoft investing so much in Azure, including Linux, you realize that they also noticed that.

I side note: They already run Android stuff in the Chromebook ... why to add the Linux part? The problem is that Android it is very limited compared with the full Linux functionality. Also, they are working the Fussia OS core .. what could they be thinking for the future? ... I don't think that Android be the answer for all the questions.

Well ... when people pay more, builders are forced to improve their phones capacity in each new iteration.

This produces better sub $300 phones that are comparable to two years before $1000 ones and, as a side effect, new types of gadgets using the phones SoCs as multimedia boxes and Single Board Computers. Even, this makes the PC foundation to be weaker because more IoT oriented machines are eating the previously only PC kingdom.

I am not one of those purchasing $1000 phones, but for those making the investment, my sincere gratitude. You are financing all the other marvels that are not simple phones.

The problem here is not to make programming easier but to classify the type of tasks you are trying to accomplish.

Some tasks are easy and can be accomplished by anybody without training, so the people without knowledge or sophisticated skills can work them easily. But other tasks are very critical and complex and well trained specialists need to work on them.

Don't try to put everyone in the same basket because you will obtain super complex and heavy things (when you need to do special programs with very easy and powerless tools), or super dangerous solutions (when you are trying to use those easy to use tools in critical environments).

Another issue is about the computers. Before everything was "Basic" because the machines were very simple, slow, with less resources, so only Basic or machine language was possible. But today the user machines are ultra powerful computing devices with many layers or complexity to deal with. An option is to go the Raspberry Pi path and to define small simple things on machines that only do one thing and can do it without a lot of complexity, and not to try to resolve all humanity problems with the current bloated operating environments that are excessive in everything they "try" to do. This is not a programming problem, this is a conceptualization one.

Amazon stores are not consolidated. Depending on what you purchase, you could receive several packages even when you choose consolidation because the origin of the goods it is different no matter what "Amazon" tag they have.

If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...

But it was ... just thinking how few old traditional buildings made with soft materials survived strong central american (where I live) continuous earthquakes. This is why seismic codes are becoming more and more strict, because of the bad experiences and fallen buildings

The real difference is that humans have several thousands of years making buildings and just some decades working with software. And Tesla took a very risky path working many new things that could carry them where they are today. I expect this learning process will help them very much in the future.

Owning an iPhone it is a good sign that you "pretend" to be rich.

That material ... could have some practical usage?

There are so many attack vectors and options, and so much research from a lot of fronts. Soon or later another serious problem will arise because the modern CPUs are just too complex to be 100% safe for everything.

However, the solution seems to be simple. Don't put all the eggs in the same basket.

Use several independent computers. The ones could be exposed to environments where those exploits could be possible, must lack hyperthreading, branch prediction all these fancy speed things. But the ones are behind in really secured areas with enough control and a small quantity of well behaved and controlled software, could use those resources.

The issue here is to design for security and forget the sellers fairy tales about how good are their products.

To stop a hard disk ... yes ... but you can make a long term "attack" damaging the disks slowly with not so strong noise.

Everything depends on what it is your goal.

There is an important detail. Even if the electricity it is being produced with coal or petroleum, an electricity power plant can be optimized and the method to produce the energy can be closely monitored. However, it is impossible to guarantee that half million diesel buses are working correctly and the individual method to use the energy in each independent combustion engine it is extremely ineficient. Then, it is an improvement. Also, it is easier, as other reader described, to replace the coal plants than to run around looking for all these thousands of diesel machines.

Why not to design the satellite as some sort of long cilindre and to use a militar converted jet to carry it "near" the atmosphere limit and just to send it the remaining distance as a missile? You can take a lot of decisions, even to return home if the conditions are not optimal, and the sending device is 100% reusable without almost no effort.

Talking about conspiracy theories ... could be necessary to replace our machines (although they continue doing their work apparently well) because some obscure mistake was performed?

It is not realistic to think that Intel will replace all CPUs with the problems. Not only because there are many, but also because sometimes they are soldered, inside production systems that can't be so easily serviced or, because the machines users have no idea how to open and replace the CPU. This is a sensitive operation that must be performed by somebody knowing what he/she is doing. So ... in the sake of security, new machines need to be made, and this will boom the PC markets for a while.

OR

This is the Katana that will pass through the hearth of the PC and a lot of people that really don't need it, will stop using it. Mobiles and Chromebooks or similar devices will acquire a little more functionality and PC sales will drop even more.

For the people that really need a stationary, secure and powerful machine, for development or gaming, a new brew of PCs will arise. And in the office environment, other options, different from PCs (let's call them OC for Office Computer), could accomplish the task. The days when the PC was all almighty for everything and everybody really are over.