On Thursday, 13 June 2013 at 16:53:38 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
Back in the bad old DOS days, there were many code editors that
worked instantly. No perceptible delays at all. I find it
ironic that today, with machines 1000 times faster, some
vendors consider it acceptable to have 15 second delays.
Indeed. Software responsiveness is my #1 pet peeve with just
about all software.
If a video game can simulate physics, render millions of
triangles, stream multiple channels of audio, and process game
logic and AI in under 16ms then your crappy text editor can at
least have the decency to put a character on the screen when I
press a key without having to wait multiple seconds.
From a cold boot, the terminal I use, iTerm, can take upwards of
10 seconds to start up before I can start entering commands.
People just don't care anymore.
In 1977, when Alan Kay was describing DynaBook (basically, the
iPad) he said:
"There should be no discernible pause between cause
and effect. One of the metaphors we used when designing
such a system was that of a musical instrument, such as
a flute, which is owned by its user and responds
instantly and consistently to its owner's wishes. Imagine
the absurdity of a one-second delay between blowing a
note and hearing it!"
http://www.vpri.org/pdf/m1977001_dynamedia.pdf
35 years later and we now have the device he described, but the
absurdity isn't imaginary.
