Computer advances I'm STILL waiting for...

[mr_a500]

Computers have become so stagnant it's disgusting. If I compare my 1987 Amiga (with some slightly newer parts and software ;-)) with a computer that is 19 years newer, there seems to be only minor improvements and even some things that are WORSE. Here are some things I thought we'd have before 2000:


1. Ultra high res displays and the end of anti-aliasing

It seems these days higher resolution just means bigger displays, but back in 1998 I read an article about IBM prototype displays with 10x the resolution density. Their prototype was 17" but resolution was something like 22,000 x 9,000. This would make anti-aliasing a thing of the past because everything would be as crisp as print on paper. I think they said something about Windows having to support this and that may explain why we'll never have it.


2. The death of Virtual Memory

With 64bit processors and the ability to access >4Gb of RAM, why do we still have slow annoying virtual memory? Virtual memory should have been a temporary workaround until memory became plentiful. Why swap back and forth, shortening harddrive life and slowing everything down (and causing major problems if you don't "shut down" properly).


3. The death of optical discs

In 1997 I read about holigraphic storage cubes which could contain much more data than DVD, required no spin-up time (non-moving), were cheap to produce and were the size of a sugar cube.
I've always loved Compact Discs for music, but hated it in computers (slow spin-up, stupid inactivity spin-down). DVD - which I waited for since 1990 - turned out to be crap (like a VCR with Windows on it, crashing all the time).


4. 3D OS

They've talked about this since the '80's. I've seen 3D OS demos (in the late 90's) with hundreds of floating windows (in 3D, obviously) and flipping looked easy. Switching multiple applications using standard desktop is a pain in the arse (at least Amiga has multiple screens).


5. Speech recognition

Whatever happened to that? I'm not saying I want to type a document by saying it, but it might be good for fast OS access like switching windows, running automated tasks or opening programs. Maybe we've already got this, but I haven't seen it.


6. The death of Windows

Just kidding - but this would actually be a computer advance ;-)



Anybody have anything they've been waiting for?

[mr_a500]

What the heck is a "3D OS"?

You've never heard of this? There have been a bunch of different concepts for 3D in operating systems rather than the flat desktop model. The one I liked was where windows were arranged sort of around a 3D cylinder and when you wanted to switch, the current window would be transparent and you could select from the many windows floating behind it.

It's hard to explain without visuals. All I know is that it looked and worked great. I suppose it's similar to the computer in the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report" (crap movie though), but without the stupid hand movements.

[mr_a500]

In all fairness, it's one thing to have a device capable of this resolution, but quite another to drive it at any realistic refresh rate.

Yes, you're exactly right. I just realised this after posting. That kind of resolution would require massive amounts of RAM (making virtual memory still necessary) and would need faster processors too.

Well, I still want it someday. ;-)

[mr_a500]

I was just thinking - in all of science fiction, the one "ultimate computer" was from the 1974 film Zardoz.

The computer is a small ring (the ultimate portable), inputs are voice recognition and visual, outputs are voice/sound and projected images (no bulky screen needed), and of course, wireless connection to a central computer. (who knows how it's powered, but it doesn't seem to need recharging ;-) )

[mr_a500]

LCD/TFT have pro's wich are very practical in office use and so. Users have little use of ultra high res compared to the benefits of TFT.

What do you mean? Who wouldn't benefit from displays as crisp as a printed page? If you're talking about price, of course the current low resolution displays are cheaper.

I suppose the main reason all the advances I want aren't here is the fact that it's easier and cheaper to keep making the same old crap rather than innovate. And considering what happens to products like the Amiga, it seems innovation too soon is a bad business move.

So looking ahead 10 years, we'll see Windows 2016 which is marginally faster with slightly different graphics (the main advance is that Windows might have a different name).
We'll be using large, but low resolution plasma screens. The mouse, DVD and USB will still be in use. Software will be the same but with extra animations and a few hundred extra features you don't need

With a future that boring, I'll probably still be using my A500 as my main computer.

[mr_a500]

Today, synthesised speech still sounds like a Speak 'n Spell. I want a computer to address me with "Good morning Paul, I trust you are well?" with appropriate attention being paid to tone and inflection.

Ha - Speak'n Spell... that brings back memories. It was impressive for the time, but because it was from Texas Instruments, the thing used American spellings. I was just a young kid in Canada (a perfect speller) and I didn't know why the damn thing kept telling me I was spelling wrong.
S'n'S: "spell..boulder"
Me:    "b" "o" "u"
S'n'S: "Wrong! Try again."
Me:    "b" "o" "u"
S'n'S: "Incorrect! The correct spelling is "b.o.l.d.e.r"
(same with neighbour, honour, valour, colour, etc.)

I used to laugh at how it pronounced "n" and "m": like "in" and "im".

What HAL9000 got right in 1968 and my Amiga 500 half managed in 1990 has hit a dead end.

The "computer" in Zardoz had a nice voice too. Hey, you're in the UK - how is that Tom Baker text messaging thing working? If it sounds OK, maybe we could all have computers with Tom Baker's voice. Instead of a Windows BSOD, you could hear "Windows has crashed...would you like a jelly baby?"