On 4 Jun 2007 09:42:26 -0700, in bit.listserv.ibm-main you wrote: >[1] With all this talk of dinosaurs being associated with the "mainframe", >I'm reminded of the other Richard Leakey book I have: "The Sixth >Extinction". Will the "mainframe" be included in the rapid disappearance of >species?
I'm trying to think of some technology that has disappeared altogether. It's hard to imagine some hobbyist 200 years ago using a mainframe the way that hobbyists do with, say bookbinding. I think though that some of the old SF writers weren't entirely wrong. While sail ships are now predominately toys, there still are their successors, carrying cargo across the seas. They are bigger, more powerful, and very different - but they are ships. It's easy to foresee a time when the world is full of pervasive micro and nano computers - but hard to foresee them being exclusive. There will be uses for possibly isolated big iron computing. Maybe Railroads are a better analogy. The trains are vastly outnumbered by cars and trucks - but they still move lots of cargo. And their technology is being touted at a smaller scale for mass transportation as well. Things will change, but it won't be a simple replacement of the old by the new of the day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
