Is the magic really gone?

[Motoko.]

When I was a lad growing up in the 90s, computers were still considered magical whether you watched the old star trek movies with the commodore graphics or you watched a few cyberpunk films that depicted technology advancing to plateau's beyond man's dream. I personally feel in this time we know all the better and some of the design choices in todays offering simply doesn't inspire me like the old days. Even with all the bugs, slow internet, and headaches, that we had to deal with in , the journey was still fun whether we got mad, or frustrated like a love/hate relationship. I missed the old internet, not this web2.0 nonsense we're in right now.

Now things just seem too boring..

I remember as a Windows user I use to keep up with Apple's every move, I was really dazzled, and envious at the kinds of designs and features they were pushing back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Even the feel of computer hardware back in those days felt full of possibility.

Some memorable machines i liked:

Compaq Armada 4200

IBM Thinkpad 390X

Custom Built AMD Newcastles on display

Sony VAIO V505DC23

Titanium Powerbook

G3 iBooks

G4 Cube

iMac 2nd Gen (Graphite G4) (I was very fond of these machines in grade school got to experience slot load disc drives for the first time with OS9)

Yeah I'm nostalgia tripping but that feel when another generation will never understand..

[Crisp]

I miss the old days where headaches were cured with a hand drill and if you were drowned and survived you were branded a Witch.

Today we have boring health and safety.

On a seriously note, technology has reached a stale point, but I think it's all down to funds and debts which is stopping it mostly.

[Haggis Veteran]

ah the old days lol

I remember my old 386 DX50

I loved it, use to play D/Generation on it lol for hours at a time lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D/Generation

[remixedcat]

I miss the old days where headaches were cured with a hand drill and if you were drowned and survived you were branded a Witch.

Today we have boring health and safety.

On a seriously note, technology has reached a stale point, but I think it's all down to funds and debts which is stopping it mostly.

or apple suing everybody.... -_-

[Fraud OS 11]

The magic started dying when they started dumbing everything so that grandma could use it.

[Wiggz]

The magic is there still, however it's saturated now. The tech market used to be one device and one device only...a PC if you were lucky...be it a C64, an Amiga, or a Mac....but still one machine for 2 things only...word processing and/or games.

Then the Internet hit and slowly but surely technology has advanced (not so slowly you might argue).

The fact is marketing will have people believe that they need a Nexus 10 for everyday tablet use and a Nexus 7 for night time use and a NExus 4 for everyday phone usage......as tech is cheaper it's more expected to own more.

Therefore those little bits of magic are spread much further and wider.

Personally, the magic you refer to, dissipated when my C64 was retired.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I never considered computers "magical"!? I was programming simple BASIC logic puzzles when I was 7 and always saw them as a tool. The cyberpunk nonsense you remember was absolute guff that Holywood pushed.

[XerXis]

You're just getting old. Everything seems better when time has passed

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I think it is just about getting old... but also the sheer immersion in technology - it's all around us now.

Back when I was at school, mobile phones didn't exist, there was no internet (until right at the end of school.. on a 28k modem!) and PC's were still pretty basic. All that stuff seemed amazing but now it's everywhere and there are no quantum leaps in the techology - just evolutionary stuff. So I think combined with growing up and getting burned out on it, the more evolutionary nature of everything makes it seem less interesting.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

No. Personally, I feel like computing has never been better or more "magical" than right now. Lots of mature choices for everyone, a healthy amount of competition in the mobile space, Microsoft having lost its monopoly. Innovative new form factors and approaches to computing. Incredible new developments in mobile computing. The internet of things picking up steam, interfaces starting to disappear completely, getting us closer to the dream of ubiquitous computingThere's absolutely no reason to be bored. And I've never been happier, could do more ,or had less trouble with my everyday computing devices. As well, the hurdle for newcomers to get started programming for any of these new devices has never been lower

[guitmz]

I miss my Pentium MMX 166Mhz... It was a great bro to me until 2007

[nekkidtruth]

I love everything about how technology and computers and the Internet have progressed since 1996 (When I first came online).

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Computers have always been terrible and always will be.

And Geri Halliwell is still with us. And even better looking these days.

[freak180]

I agree, the spark is no longer there. I feel like we take technology for granted. You see kids from ages 7 - 13 carrying iPhones and Macbooks, iPad. Everybody has everything now in days..

[Soldiers33]

no one is stopping you from getting rid of all yuor new technology and using the "machines" you miss.

[argonite]

The magic isn't gone, it's just more widely distributed.

Computing used to be a luxury item. A nerd tool, a hobby, a tool for businesses with big mainframes.

So it makes sense that computers were this wonderful, magical thing like the steam engine.

However:

People in third world countries are just now getting access to cheap computing power.

Millions, no billions of home users now have access to the internet and free learning, accessible anywhere within a cellular network.

No longer do we have to count CPU cycles, the power of automation is available to everyone, and advanced tools such as AutoCAD are now available outside industrial markets.

Yes, computing is advancing at a slower rate now, but that's because it's advancing everyone, not just an exclusive few.

[freak180]

no one is stopping you from getting rid of all yuor new technology and using the "machines" you miss.

That's a very ignorant thing to say. That wouldn't change anything nor bring back that spark we use to feel.

[Rohdekill]

I would say yes, the magic is gone. In the 80's, 90% of the magic was coding it yourself as there was basically no software. Then, throughout the 90's software took main stage and the user could do more with a great deal of flexibility. Now, we're down to apps - extremely dumbed down small applications which have basically no flexibility.

I laugh at today's youth who think they "know" computing simply because they know how to run a few apps or navigate their way around a dumbed down OS. Yet, ask them a networking question or ask them to code something and they are at a complete loss.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I don't think the magic has gone at all.

Touchscreen phones and tablets have completely changed computing in a very short period of time, even though many companies had tried to make them success before. New hardware, like the Oculus Rift and Leap Motion, has the potential to change the way we interact with computers. Steam and Kickstarter have changed the way people think about computer gaming. High-DPI screens and 3D technology are here and will only improve. And 3D printing is likely to change society forever.

I think computing is better and more promising than it's ever been.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

I'm an optimist.

I'm sure some new gadgets that will be released in the next 10 years will blow everyone's minds off.

The sound and video quality are destined to become better too.

As for the computers, the power will keep on increasing, while the size of the chips will continue to shrink - that, coupled with new materials being invented, will open new possibilities: wearable computers, augmented reality, etc.

[moloko]

Ummm. magic? expensive computers, slow, no way do i miss that. My first computer that I bought on my own was 2500$. now i can get a nice computer under 500$ and spend other money on better things. I think now is a great time. We are transitioning into more touch UI. Still the issues and problems. things are almost to the appliance level which is good.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

this isnt limited to computers, though. wouldnt anyone from any generation get nostalgic from some sort of technology? what if you lived in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and cars were all the rage? (sorry, horseless carriages) you'd suddenly miss the days when cars were clunky and slow. you had troubles finding proper roads and decent gasoline. you loved to tinker your constantly-broken auto. fast-forward to the 1920s and suddenly you take your Model <whatever> for granted.

[Hum]

But, but the poRn is better than evar .... :p

[Mando]

The magic is there still, however it's saturated now. The tech market used to be one device and one device only...a PC if you were lucky...be it a C64, an Amiga, or a Mac....but still one machine for 2 things only...word processing and/or games.

Then the Internet hit and slowly but surely technology has advanced (not so slowly you might argue).

The fact is marketing will have people believe that they need a Nexus 10 for everyday tablet use and a Nexus 7 for night time use and a NExus 4 for everyday phone usage......as tech is cheaper it's more expected to own more.

Therefore those little bits of magic are spread much further and wider.

Personally, the magic you refer to, dissipated when my C64 was retired.

Aint that the truth!

Chickenhead forever!! Long live CBM! :D

[tim_s]

It is funny how the market has changed: It use to be that the computer was so foreign that the professionals would be left to the changes. NOW everyone tries it themselves and calls the professionals to clean up their mess.