> > Why did the Hubble, and embedded system, just get upgraded to
> > a 486-50? Obviously the system that was there before did the job, right?
>
> Aside of getting more of house-keeping data processing,
> and memory storage capacity ? (Than with the original
> 16 bit 1172A processor.)
Precisely. The availability of new technology changes the definition of
what "the job" is. In actuality, you very rarely pick the best technological
solution for the job, you pick the most complex job the existing technology
will allow you to do.
This is why no matter how fast computers get, they still feel slow. It's
because we are doing the most complex tasks the computers will allow us to
do. And we always will -- it's why we developed the computers in the first
place.
Why is it that all these advanced tools don't make my job any easier?
Simple. With whatever tools I have, I still undertake the most complex tasks
I am capable of doing. The tools allow me to do more complex tasks, but they
don't make the tasks I do any easier -- in fact, they make the tasks I do
harder tasks.
> > No, what happened was the availability of more powerful embedded
> > processors changed the _scope_ of what the job was. This is what has
> > always happened.
> A friend of mine used to be writing software for embedded systems.
> He said roughly: Embedded software is where PROM change needs
> digger crew to get to to box buried under a busy street. (If not
> a cable-ship to drag it out from the bottom of an ocean ... or
> need a shuttle mission worth around USD 1 billion..)
>
> Those cadgets below the streets and in the ocean do tend stay in
> service for *long* times. Tens of years, very least. Mainly
> because the installation costs are so high... (The cadget costs
> next to nothing compared to the work.)
Hence the importance of using the best possible hardware in the first
place. The software can be upgraded remotely. It's idiotic to skimp on the
hardware and then expect the software people to 'make it work' .. somehow.
If you do that, you are assured your hardware will become obsolete.
Save a buck -- pay the price.
DS
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