Life and death of information technology
In this article I would like to talk about technologies, devices and other interesting pieces from the IT world that have not become popular, have given way or will soon give up their place under the sun in the process of evolution.
The question “What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?” Was recently asked on the popular Q & A site www.superuser.com , which is currently leading in terms of votes.
One of the best comments is: “Knowing the answer to this question makes me feel so old ...” (Knowing the answer makes me feel so old ...).
')
I don’t know how old you can feel, but not so long ago CP / M and IBM PC computers did not have hard disks, and all that was available to users was one floppy disk (for an additional $ 1,000, you could install another ). Over time, all computers had two floppy disks, and with the advent of hard drives, they began to use the letter C as the first after already occupied A and B. I note that all floppy disks initially had a size of 5 inches (they were later replaced with more familiar 3 , 5-inch) and could store first 180 KB, then 360 KB, then 720 KB, and only then as much as 1.44 MB.
Now it looks ridiculous, but you could only dream of terabytes of data in the clouds. In the real world of today, it is extremely rare to meet a computer with a disk drive (educational and government institutions do not count, we are still talking about the real world!).
The fate of floppy disks was repeated by COMBO drives, and DVD drives increasingly lose their meaning due to the cheapness of cloud technologies, P2P networks and good Internet.
PS But vinyl again "in trend" :-)
This key is present on almost all modern keyboards. Initially, it appeared on the 83-button IBM PC / XT keyboard and the 84-button IBM PC A, and only then got on the "extended" 101-button keyboards.
Honestly, the purpose of the button was spied on Wikipedia: the Scroll Lock button is designed to change the behavior of the cursor keys; when the Scroll Lock mode is on, the arrow keys perform the function of moving the screen (up, down, left, right), and when off, change the cursor position.
Some software vendors use Scroll Lock for internal purposes. For example, in Yandex Punto Switcher using the Alt + Scroll Lock combination you can transliterate the selected text (just checked it works), and in the computer game Cossacks Scroll Lock is used to create missions for the game.
Most of them used PCs and do not even suspect the existence of this digging on their keyboards.
Many people still remember how all the radio stations in the country used the famous "dhabi-dhabi" or "three double" in commercials.
In the distant past, when not only the http protocol was used for browsing pages, the third-level domain “www” in the site names was almost mandatory - he pointed out that the page belongs to the World Wide Web Internet space. But in the future, protocols like gopher ceased to be used, and only the http protocol remained for displaying pages (and all pages by default became owned by the World Wide Web space). The domain "www" became optional, but it continued to be used out of habit and continue to be used until now.
In modern browsers, you do not need to specify either the “www” alias or the “http” protocol (this does not apply to other protocols, so you will still have to specify https). But since from the point of view of the search engines www.site.com and site.com are two different domains, administrators need to properly configure the web server and DNS (as a rule, using a redirect from one option to another).
I think that many people know what it is, but I am sure that not many people used it or used it regularly.
Infrared port (PI) appeared in the early 1990s. It is a transmitter in the form of an LED and a receiver in the form of a photodiode, which operate in the infrared range (wavelengths from 850 to 880 nanometers).
The brightest moment of using the infrared port in my life is when children in the yard and at school dropped ringtones, audio and video jokes and pictures with blackjacks to each other and ... Well, of course. To do this, it was necessary to put two phones nearby and wait until the cherished 200-300 kb is downloaded to your phone.
Tell me, does this remind of anything from the modern world? Of course, NFC works in a similar way. Although now it is considered a breakthrough technology and not all modern phones have got support for NFC.
On the other hand, there is also Bluetooth, which, when connected, does not position the devices and locate them at a distance of up to 10 m, or even up to 100 m from each other. Despite the active use of Bluetooth in headphones, transmitters and other devices, in modern phones, smartphones and computers, technology is almost never used. The same can be said about the infrared ports. They were replaced by USB, NFC, Wi-Fi and cloud technologies.
Futurologists predict a speedy oblivion to many technologies and devices, and the last half century are good proof of this.
Storage and data transfer. Radio, analogue television, mail, faxes, landlines - in the modern world, people use it less and less. Digital and satellite television, fiber-optic Internet, as well as smartphones and portable computers have replaced. In the near future we are unlikely to see companies that will offer to hold a radio or landline phone to your new apartment or house. In just a few generations, we have gone from floppy disks to SSDs, from Dial-up to the fiber-optic Internet, from black and white television to satellite. Does anyone else remember the pagers? The same is waiting for flash drives.
Interface Management. Mice and keyboards have been irreplaceable helpers for two or three decades, but now the era of touch screens and virtual keyboards has come, so the role of the mouse and keyboard will gradually decrease. Voice control? Siri! Gloved dialing? In the new Nokia models it is already available! Touch control on virtually any laptop or monitor? Windows 8 gives this opportunity. There is even such a profession in cinema - the interface designer of the future. Many even get on pretty well.
Photo, audio and video. Now there is almost no need to buy a cheap camera, because any modern smartphone can easily cope with the task “take a picture of me here.” And (attention!) He is always with you, unlike the camera, which you probably take with you only on vacation. The development of digital technology has led to the fact that the well-known Kodak company recently went bankrupt, and the vast majority of manufacturers have ceased to produce film for cameras.
The same can be said about playing music and video: first tape cassette recorders and DVD and MP3 players are a thing of the past, and the need for a Zune or iPod is a big question. All this can now get out of the box in your smartphone. But despite this, he blamed now again in fashion.
By the way, the conservatism of many instances still strikes terror to all progressive humanity. Just two years ago, when defending a candidate’s work, I was asked to bring all the important documents on a diskette, and when I submitted the work - on a CD. And some time ago, they refused to give me a Schengen visa only because the invitation letter came to the embassy address in the form of an e-mail, and not a fax, as the embassy staff wanted.
In the modern world, the average period of the life of a technology or invention is rather small by historical standards. If earlier one invention could use centuries, now it is decades or even years. In any case, progress does not stand still, and we have the opportunity to use all the delights of this progress on ourselves in everyday life.
As an additional literature, I would like to advise the book by Michio Kaku “The Physics of the Impossible” , where in an accessible and understandable form you can learn about what to expect from researchers and scientists not only in the coming years, but also in a few centuries:
In the comments, I propose to discuss how the change in technology has affected you, and what technologies and devices you personally expect the most.
Thanks for attention!
Why does disk numbering in Windows begin with the letter C?
The question “What are the Windows A: and B: drives used for?” Was recently asked on the popular Q & A site www.superuser.com , which is currently leading in terms of votes.
One of the best comments is: “Knowing the answer to this question makes me feel so old ...” (Knowing the answer makes me feel so old ...).
')
I don’t know how old you can feel, but not so long ago CP / M and IBM PC computers did not have hard disks, and all that was available to users was one floppy disk (for an additional $ 1,000, you could install another ). Over time, all computers had two floppy disks, and with the advent of hard drives, they began to use the letter C as the first after already occupied A and B. I note that all floppy disks initially had a size of 5 inches (they were later replaced with more familiar 3 , 5-inch) and could store first 180 KB, then 360 KB, then 720 KB, and only then as much as 1.44 MB.
Now it looks ridiculous, but you could only dream of terabytes of data in the clouds. In the real world of today, it is extremely rare to meet a computer with a disk drive (educational and government institutions do not count, we are still talking about the real world!).
The fate of floppy disks was repeated by COMBO drives, and DVD drives increasingly lose their meaning due to the cheapness of cloud technologies, P2P networks and good Internet.
PS But vinyl again "in trend" :-)
Scroll Lock Key
This key is present on almost all modern keyboards. Initially, it appeared on the 83-button IBM PC / XT keyboard and the 84-button IBM PC A, and only then got on the "extended" 101-button keyboards.
Honestly, the purpose of the button was spied on Wikipedia: the Scroll Lock button is designed to change the behavior of the cursor keys; when the Scroll Lock mode is on, the arrow keys perform the function of moving the screen (up, down, left, right), and when off, change the cursor position.
Some software vendors use Scroll Lock for internal purposes. For example, in Yandex Punto Switcher using the Alt + Scroll Lock combination you can transliterate the selected text (just checked it works), and in the computer game Cossacks Scroll Lock is used to create missions for the game.
Most of them used PCs and do not even suspect the existence of this digging on their keyboards.
Www
Many people still remember how all the radio stations in the country used the famous "dhabi-dhabi" or "three double" in commercials.
In the distant past, when not only the http protocol was used for browsing pages, the third-level domain “www” in the site names was almost mandatory - he pointed out that the page belongs to the World Wide Web Internet space. But in the future, protocols like gopher ceased to be used, and only the http protocol remained for displaying pages (and all pages by default became owned by the World Wide Web space). The domain "www" became optional, but it continued to be used out of habit and continue to be used until now.
In modern browsers, you do not need to specify either the “www” alias or the “http” protocol (this does not apply to other protocols, so you will still have to specify https). But since from the point of view of the search engines www.site.com and site.com are two different domains, administrators need to properly configure the web server and DNS (as a rule, using a redirect from one option to another).
Infrared port
I think that many people know what it is, but I am sure that not many people used it or used it regularly.
Infrared port (PI) appeared in the early 1990s. It is a transmitter in the form of an LED and a receiver in the form of a photodiode, which operate in the infrared range (wavelengths from 850 to 880 nanometers).
The brightest moment of using the infrared port in my life is when children in the yard and at school dropped ringtones, audio and video jokes and pictures with blackjacks to each other and ... Well, of course. To do this, it was necessary to put two phones nearby and wait until the cherished 200-300 kb is downloaded to your phone.
Tell me, does this remind of anything from the modern world? Of course, NFC works in a similar way. Although now it is considered a breakthrough technology and not all modern phones have got support for NFC.
On the other hand, there is also Bluetooth, which, when connected, does not position the devices and locate them at a distance of up to 10 m, or even up to 100 m from each other. Despite the active use of Bluetooth in headphones, transmitters and other devices, in modern phones, smartphones and computers, technology is almost never used. The same can be said about the infrared ports. They were replaced by USB, NFC, Wi-Fi and cloud technologies.
And a little more about the change of "generations"
Futurologists predict a speedy oblivion to many technologies and devices, and the last half century are good proof of this.
Storage and data transfer. Radio, analogue television, mail, faxes, landlines - in the modern world, people use it less and less. Digital and satellite television, fiber-optic Internet, as well as smartphones and portable computers have replaced. In the near future we are unlikely to see companies that will offer to hold a radio or landline phone to your new apartment or house. In just a few generations, we have gone from floppy disks to SSDs, from Dial-up to the fiber-optic Internet, from black and white television to satellite. Does anyone else remember the pagers? The same is waiting for flash drives.
Interface Management. Mice and keyboards have been irreplaceable helpers for two or three decades, but now the era of touch screens and virtual keyboards has come, so the role of the mouse and keyboard will gradually decrease. Voice control? Siri! Gloved dialing? In the new Nokia models it is already available! Touch control on virtually any laptop or monitor? Windows 8 gives this opportunity. There is even such a profession in cinema - the interface designer of the future. Many even get on pretty well.
Photo, audio and video. Now there is almost no need to buy a cheap camera, because any modern smartphone can easily cope with the task “take a picture of me here.” And (attention!) He is always with you, unlike the camera, which you probably take with you only on vacation. The development of digital technology has led to the fact that the well-known Kodak company recently went bankrupt, and the vast majority of manufacturers have ceased to produce film for cameras.
The same can be said about playing music and video: first tape cassette recorders and DVD and MP3 players are a thing of the past, and the need for a Zune or iPod is a big question. All this can now get out of the box in your smartphone. But despite this, he blamed now again in fashion.
Instead of conclusion
By the way, the conservatism of many instances still strikes terror to all progressive humanity. Just two years ago, when defending a candidate’s work, I was asked to bring all the important documents on a diskette, and when I submitted the work - on a CD. And some time ago, they refused to give me a Schengen visa only because the invitation letter came to the embassy address in the form of an e-mail, and not a fax, as the embassy staff wanted.
In the modern world, the average period of the life of a technology or invention is rather small by historical standards. If earlier one invention could use centuries, now it is decades or even years. In any case, progress does not stand still, and we have the opportunity to use all the delights of this progress on ourselves in everyday life.
As an additional literature, I would like to advise the book by Michio Kaku “The Physics of the Impossible” , where in an accessible and understandable form you can learn about what to expect from researchers and scientists not only in the coming years, but also in a few centuries:
The famous physicist Michio Kaku explores technologies, phenomena or devices that seem implausible today in terms of the possibility of their realization in the future. Talking about our near future, the scientist in an accessible language talks about how the universe works. What is a big bang and black holes, phasers and antimatter. From the book "The Physics of the Impossible" you will know that already in the XXI century, during our life, perhaps, force fields, invisibility, reading of thoughts, connection with extraterrestrial civilizations, and even teleportation and interstellar travels will be realized.
In the comments, I propose to discuss how the change in technology has affected you, and what technologies and devices you personally expect the most.
Thanks for attention!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/160303/
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