Comment by openrisk | Hacker News Reader

Comment by openrisk | Hacker News Reader

The ZX Spectrum computing nostalgia highlights the abyss between what could have been and the state and direction of personal computing technology anno 2024.

In four decades we went from zero, to infinite possibilities and then (de-facto) to zero again, even as the planet is drowning in oceans of smartphone electronic waste.

Back then you would plug your rubber key wonder into a TV and could program the device right away [1]. Think of what it takes to program [2] a smartphone today. Its practically impossible unless you are a professional developer with very specific specializations. Yet we now "own" devices that are infinitely more capable than the ZX, in every possible dimension (cpu, disk, memory, comms, screen, camera, microphone, you name it)

Mass personal computing has been hijacked, sealed up, dumbed down and thoroughly diverted to serve pretty much only one objective (out of the vast range of social and economic opportunities and challenges): consumer tracking and profiling, for the purpose of intermediating online consumption.

We can only guess at what wonders would have developed in the intervening four decades if the original ethos and creativity of the tech industry had survived even in part the onslaught of the particularly virulent type of commercialism that has come to define digital technology.

[1] https://worldofspectrum.org/ZXBasicManual/zxmanchap1.html

[2] "programming" meaning in this context any advanced controls a user has over a digital device, providing agency and abilities to shape its function for their own benefit in ways that are not pre-programmed and fixed by the vendor.

> In four decades we went from zero, to infinite possibilities and then (de-facto) to zero again, even as the planet is drowning in oceans of smartphone electronic waste.

However, there are far more people being creative and generating "things" with a computer now than when the ZX was available. They may not be programming directly but are using spreadsheets, music generation software, graphics packages, video editors etc. to do things they value more.

> However, there are far more people being creative and generating "things" with a computer now than when the ZX was available.

I think you miss the point. While there are professional programs to do X, overall usability went down because people cannot (due to complexity, are not allowed to) write glue code. Yes, these professional programs can sometimes be "programmed" visually, but it's inside the niche.

Moreover, the real productivity requires desktop and cannot be reproduced on mobile devices.

The computer used to be a bicycle for the mind and now it's a high speed train. The train is better in every technical aspect, but it only goes to a limited number of places.

I agree with the programming part. I just started playing with GForth on Android, but I wonder if people know of other options. (IMHO something like Emacs or Factor would be ideal.)

I occasionally use Python (Pydroid) and C# (C# Shell) as well, the commercial versions.

There used to be a Clojure one with the challenges from Clojure, but no longer works in recent Android versions, and the server no longer exists (4Clojure).

On Android you can use a lot of programming languages inside Termux[0]. It is a terminal environment with a package manager. I'm mostly using it for writing small automation bash scripts and a little for Nim programming.

What surprised me is the fact that Termux always ships the latest version of Nim. They're practically the first to update the compiler on new version release, even compared to rolling Linux distros, OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch taking second and third place after a week or two.

I also have full blown Neovim IDE configured for Nim. In combination with a custom 7-row keyboard[1] it's even somewhat comfortable to use for a quarter of an hour =).

[0] - https://termux.dev/en/

[1] - https://github.com/Archargelod/jbak2Templates-Skins

Termux is an incredible project. Could not believe it the first time. You can even run a web server etc.

One challenge is to evolve the terminal / text paradigm so that useful tinkering becomes possible/confortable on the smaller mobile devices. It doesn't help that these devices are being reduced to optimizing finger swipping ("software" keyboards etc.) and little else.

And of-course who knows where it would lead if it was actually a first class member of the OS...

You both probably already know this, but just in case you (or some onlooker) don't, termux lets you run an sshd. So, for those stints > a quarter hour, you may be able to actually "log in" to your phone over wifi from a more comfortable environment such as a laptop/desktop (if you are near one, anyway).

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