"But the problem relating to the licensing system Microsoft established remains.
Some years ago, the company stopped selling software outright and instead set up a
subscription-based system. Users paid a
fee, just like the cable bill and got to use a Microsoft operating system or Microsoft
software, like the Office suite.
As a result, when Microsoft decided to issue an upgrade, we all upgraded pretty much
simultaneously because the company
eventually would cut off access to the older software. It wasn't too long before
everybody, everywhere, was running exactly
the same thing.
This had some great advantages. Computers got a lot simpler and more reliable because
they didn't have to be quite as
flexible. Things such as technical support and interoperability issues largely
disappeared. All our appliances pretty much
run on a stripped-down version of the Microsoft operating system, everything from the
microwave oven to the thermostat.
The problem is, because everything runs the same operating system--even my electric
shaver--once somebody discovers a
security flaw, it can bring down our computers. All the computers. All over the world.
In some places, the power is on for only a couple of hours a day now. It's not safe to
drive because the traffic lights can't
be trusted. Torch-bearing mobs occasionally break into the homes of known
technologists and . . . well, let's just say we're
starting to run low on people who can fix things.
We're on the brink of disaster, akin to the great corn blight of 2012. Then, all
commercially planted corn had been made
genetically identical, which produced spectacular yields. But when a new disease
infected a crop in a small field in Iowa, it
ripped through all the corn around the world because none of the plants had any
resistance to the blight. God, what I
wouldn't give to taste Frosted Flakes again."
[excerpt from LA Times.com]
Interesting notion isn't it? ;-)
-Gel
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