Computers - Have They Gotten Too Advanced?

[Dizzle229]

Like many of you here, I LOVE computers. Without computers, alot of modern technology wouldn't be possible. But over the last few days, I've been installing and using programs with much frustration.

 

 

 

The topic of this thread is, have computers gotten too complicated? It seems that every little thing is a headache.

 

 

 

Say you want to be able to do something on your computer. But you can't do it. You need to download another program for that to work. So you download that program. But for this program to work, you need to download another. After repeating this 5 or 6 times, you get a message saying that the last program you downloaded doesn't work on your operating system. Let's say, Vista, the destroyer of all programs. So you switch to XP. But now, you find that the third program you downloaded isn't compatible with XP.

 

 

 

If you understand what I'm talking about, discuss.

[mrpez]

well, id say computers have a long way to go before being "too advanced".

 

 

 

but i would say it is redundant when my computer asks me for permission to run a program i just told it to run.

[Lateralus]

Trying to use DOS when you're 5 years old is complicated, installing a few programs through a GUI doesn't seem too tricky.

[Kaphias]

Sorry, I'm a Mac user. Computers just don't seem complicated... except for those Windows things...

 

 

 

But yeah, when you've been using computers since you were just walking, you kinda know what you're doing.

[pryomancer]

Computers are currently at a minescule fraction of the amount of power they will have in the future.

 

 

 

I read somewhere that a computer that is programmed using 0-9 instead of binary (1 and 0) will be hundreds of thousands times more powerful and advanced than a normal pc. Although it would be incredibly complicated and devastatingly expensive.

[IvanZZ]

I touched my first computer when i was three. I played the First DOOM game on MS-DOS. 12 years later, computers and the associated programs have gotten a lot more powerful. But not too advanced. If you choose the right apps, you won't have complexity/compatibility issues as you stated. The only real danger for computing might be the fact that we could create artificial intelligence which would be much smarter and faster than a real brain. But of course this notion is just science fiction at the moment. I think there are much more pressing issues to be resolved.

[Nadril]

Trying to use DOS when you're 5 years old is complicated, installing a few programs through a GUI doesn't seem too tricky.

 

 

 

Yeah windows is cake compared to doing stuff through DOS. Of course I remember my dad setting up a menu in it so I could get to my games -- didn't stop me from looking around the rest of the DOS prompt though.

 

 

 

Hell, even windows 3.1 was more complicated than XP or Vista.

 

 

 

but i would say it is redundant when my computer asks me for permission to run a program i just told it to run.

 

 

 

You can turn that off. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the original question, no, I don't think they're too complicated. They've gone leaps and bounds away from how difficult they used to be to use. That being said compatability will always be an issue that we can't really avoid, just because of how computers change. I spent a few hours the other day getting System Shock 2 to work because it didn't like XP / My video card, for example.

 

 

 

 

 

For normal every day stuff however they are easy.

[Intriguing]

No.. to use the basic functions of a computer just requires common sense. I don't know a thing about programming or any of the more advanced aspects of computers though. However, most people, unless it's their job, don't have to worry about that either, so that probably shouldn't come too much into the argument.

[Dizzle229]

It seems like a few people misunderstood me. I'm not saying computers are too complicated to use, but what I'm saying is that all these different programs and compatibility issues are a constant problem.

 

 

 

For example, I posted a thread earlier in Tech and Computers.

 

 

 

All I wanted to do was download videos. I was given a program to do this (courtesy of Mlbfan :mrgreen: ) But then, I find that I need a different flash player. Mlbfan supplied that too, and now I can watch youtube vids without youtube. But this was useless if I couldn't get the clips into an editing program. The type of file youtube uses can't be added to these programs, but the youtube downloader has an option to convert. But wait, the program needed to convert is missing!

 

 

 

It just seems that every little detail is a headache.

[dsavi]

Let's say, Vista, the destroyer of all programs.

 

You don't know what you're talking about. Vista works great.

 

I have had more problems with Linux. Windows is incredibly simple compared to that.

 

Sorry, I'm a Mac user. Computers just don't seem complicated... except for those Windows things...

 

 

 

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

[MicroLegionnaire]

I'm not much of a computer kind of person, so it can get very complicated for me. I spent close to half an hour trying to find out whether my computer could handle COD4. :? (Fortunately it did) Maybe to someone else it isn't complicated, its how we all work I guess.

[Nadril]

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

 

 

 

It's Kaphias, of course he was serious :P

 

 

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

[fgfuyfyuiuy0]

I don't seem to have a problem with anything on computers. As they advance in capabilities, I advance in classes/books knowledge and hands on knowledge. If you don't keep on top of it then you will not understand them. :

[____]

Computers will only be 'too advanced' when the system is self-aware.

[Will H]

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

 

 

 

It's Kaphias, of course he was serious :P

 

 

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

 

Agreed. I was spoon fed on a Windows 95 (It was awesome), so Windows is really natural to me. Plonk me in front of a Mac and it would take me much longer to do the same program, it feels unnatural. Of course, it's all to do with what my first experiences on a computer were on.

 

 

 

I'm a Windows guy born and bred, Mac people, get over it.

[jemathonical]

In a few years time we will look back on the computers that we using now and laugh at how ancient and terrible they were.

[thrash-boy]

they are no where near becoming a threat to humans yet so there's no reason why we shouldn't develop them more. they are simple to use if you know what your doing

[The Observer]

In a few years time we will look back on the computers that we using now and laugh at how ancient and terrible they were.

 

 

 

Well, I don't have to wait too long. I'm already saying it.

[cadburys_egg]

 

Oh man, do I miss windows 3.11. Whoever took this must've been one rich [bleep] to have 1gb.

 

Using MS-DOS to load and play Doom, Johnny Storm and some others. It was the heaviest black and white laptop I ever had, but able to play Doom? Sold.

 

 

 

[hide=Too advanced? You, sir, have seen nothing.]

 

 

 

 

[/hide]

 

 

 

And I believe that computers were reaching somewhat of a boundary because of a phenomenon known as 'electron tunnelling'. Which essentially meant the processor couldn't actually get much smaller. (I may have regurgitated that wrong, though)

[sohkmj1]

Computers will never be too advanced 8-)

[Lionheart_0]

I don't know about you, but I don't have to download programs then, then more to get them to work, ect. Know to run things in a browser you may need stuff like flash or java, but those are like the batteries running a product, it is necessary to get other components to work, and it is fairly easy to install those.

 

 

 

MS-DOS was a [bleep] to remember the DOS commands as a child just to get around the system. GUI layouts make things so simple.

 

 

 

There is also the addition of two levels of users, basic and advanced. I am willing to bed for those that think that computers are too advance, that they have not even skimmed the surface of the power of computers. There is tonnes of features in OS's like Mac or Windows which people never use simply because they are not advanced enough to find them or need them.

 

 

 

The question is, are people advanced enough for computers yet?

[ThurinEthir]

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

 

I honestly still can't figure out how to open programs off the thing on the bottom. The icon bounces up and down, but nothing happens. Yeah, I fail.

 

Though I've been using Windows since i was 2 or 3, I have pictures of me on a computer back in Taiwan. Still, schools here have always used Macs, so I've used a good share of them starting in first grade.

 

I don't remember Windows 95, but I remember 98 and Me. Ah, good times. (For the record, I still have a computer on Me. :) )

 

Anyway, computers are becoming easier to learn to use, but not necessarily simpler. Just like Nintendo (And please save that debate for another thread), they're catering to people who are new to computers.

[warren211]

When computers start talking to me telling me I have an email, and can update themselves automatically and function hundreds of different things, I'll accept that they're too advanced.

 

 

 

Oh, damn...

[Kaphias]

Sorry, I'm a Mac user. Computers just don't seem complicated... except for those Windows things...

 

 

 

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

 

No sarcasm, sorry. :lol:

 

 

 

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

 

 

 

It's Kaphias, of course he was serious :P

 

 

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

 

Exactly... if I would of been put on a Windows computer 12 years ago, I'd be out here dissing Mac's like everyone else. But hey, that didn't happen. :P

[dsavi]

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

 

I honestly still can't figure out how to open programs off the thing on the bottom. The icon bounces up and down, but nothing happens. Yeah, I fail.

 

That's right. It's you that's wrong. If you can't launch something off the dock, you shouldn't use computers at all.

 

 

 

Actually it's the other way around. It's not your fault, there's probably something wrong with the launcher, Macs aren't always so "easy" as Apple would like you to think.

 

 

 

Oh come on Kaphias, let's not go back to the Mac Vs. "PC" crap. I really hope you're being sarcastic.

 

 

 

It's Kaphias, of course he was serious :P

 

 

 

Speaking of macs I had the hardest time figuring out how to do some simple [cabbage] on there, just depends on what you were raised on.

 

Exactly... if I would of been put on a Windows computer 12 years ago, I'd be out here dissing Mac's like everyone else. But hey, that didn't happen. :P

 

I actually grew up with macs, everything we "Learned" at school was on a mac. OS 9, if I'm not mistaken. But my dad uses Windows for everything (And a bit of Linux) so I know more about Windows, personally.

 

Fun fact: Linus Torvalds was a Swedish speaking Finn, like me except I don't have citizenship yet. So Linux is big, compared with other places, here.

 

 

 

By the way now that Macs run on Intel I have no problem with them. None at all. Well except for the one reason that I'm not typing from a mac right now and that is that Apple doesn't legally allow people to install OS X on anything other than their hardware. And their hardware is overpriced.