Here I am going to digress from my usual ranting about everything technology. Or maybe not, you chose.
Though since I'd like to write something different from "Google bought something, again" and "Oh God, Facebook/Nokia/The Universe sucks" and the last week in news has been pretty flat, I'll just free-opine.

See, there are things I'm aware of right now, such as the iPad being pretty popular and the tablets coming right our way, I'm sensing a disturbance in the Force.
I had a vision.

A vision were, lead by Apple, tech gadgets are going to behave more and more like home appliances. I don't say it's bad, at least not for everybody, read further.
I hear here and there that games are now being streamed from the cloud, I realize that connecting computers to a network is becoming as easy as pressing a key and, it's been a long while already, expressing yourself online is becoming a standard.

I come from a planet where, not long ago, you had to punch holes in wall and spend a couple of centuries configuring your machines if you wanted a LAN that really does work.
I remember, in junior high, telling a friend "What the heck are you gonna do with a TWO Gb hard disk? That's so big!".
At that time you had to restart your computer every time you install a program.

Yesterday I was in need for a codec. For those who don't know, it's the thingie you need to decode audio or video format. I am the happy borrower of a MacBook Pro, and yes QuickTime sucks (I know, I just ranted), I am thus opting for VLC as my media player. The codec I needed is AMR, which cannot be integrated directly in VLC due to a licensing problem. I know what to do: download the source code and compile with the right options (It means baking it myself from the pre-made dough...effort though, I might pass on that).

Now, this is still somehow possible, but what will happen the day I can't mess with my apps myself? 
Oh, what will happen when my friends will ask for help because her streamed app doesn't work?

"Well, I can do nothing, the problem is in their hands now, no way I can fix it"
-"But I though you were a Geek?"
-"Yes, a computer geek, not a home appliance geek"
- pointing at her tablet "But this IS a computer"
- *facepalm*

Yup, the same way that many broken cars now can't be fixed the way they were because of the very electronics that make them so comfortable, I'm afraid our future "computers" will follow the same path and won't be fixable for the very reason that makes them user-friendly.

I SO should re-learn Linux now, so I still have a couple of years to brag about my Terminal-Fu before surrendering to user-friendliness, while telling the kids to stay out of my cables.

Posted via email from @Danny_Fr