Archive for November 21, 2006

What the Hell is a Computer Anyway?

Consider this possible scenario:

Time: late 80s/early 90s

Alice: Bob, do you own a computer?

Bob: Why yes Alice, I do. It’s a 286.

Flash forward a bunch of years to 2006

Alice: Bob, do you own a computer?

Bob: No, I just have a 286.

Funny huh? It’s the same machine, but it used to be considered a computer, and now it’s not. Even funnier is my use of Alice here just as a placeholder, and the fact that Bob no longer has a computer, while the percentage of households with computers in the world has risen dramatically. Bob is obviously some sort of angry backward society-hating Unibomber type chap hell bent on destroying civilization as we know it, and he should be stopped at all costs. I suggest sending in a tag team of Superman, Batman, and the pink Power Ranger.

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