On Thu, Aug 07, 2003 at 10:03:26AM +0100, James Edward John Taylor wrote:
On Wed, 6 Aug 2003, Paul wrote:
Driving the analogy a little further... One is normally expected to receive training before using a car, so shouldn't one also be trained to use a computer ?
Surley this depends on where you come from. In England you have to pass a reasonably good Driving Test to prove [basic] compitance at being able to not-kill everyone.
In Egypt (?) I thought the only requist to driving was being over 14...
....and it seems that the only requirement to being a car mechanic is being able to inhale air over clenched teeth and then say "ooooh, thats going to cost you" shortly followed by "it will be next week before we can get the parts and you can't drive the car as its dangerous" then using a lumphammer to attempt to fix the problem...
I hate analogies with cars <> computers, although judging by the amount of computers in modern cars and wiring systems that use buses (no not the big red double decker ones) to pass information and operate things around the car perhaps we are nearly there already.
30 years in the future...
mechanic: (inhales air through teeth) "oooh, thats going to cost you" "you need an upgrade to windows 2033 car edition, you see the gear box api changed with that hotfix you applied and the old clutch driver isn't compatible it really would be quicker to upgrade. you also get the benefit of the new fuel injection 7.71 which is more efficient and loads faster"
Can you imagine driving a car down the motorway in the future to have the OS decide to crash, which then deploys the airbags, disables the brakes and steering while turning the stereo up to full volume and playing a cheesy hits of the 80s station while you await the fire brigade to cut you out of the resultant mess!
Adam