OT: The Hundred Year Computer
I found this a very thought-provoking read: "What might a general purpose computing machine look like, one that's designed to last over a hundred years, one that would even be useful in some sort of post apocalyptic environment?" https://thomashunter.name/posts/2025-03-23-post-apocalyptic-computing What hardware and software choices/tradeoffs would be optimal to build a computer designed for resilience and longevity? Would it run Linux or BSD or something else entirely? Following links led me to the concept of "permacomputing" which seems like a whole new rabbit hole of discovery. :-) https://permacomputing.net/permacomputing/ -- Website: https://www.dwarmstrong.org
On 3/28/25 15:26, Daniel Wayne Armstrong via talk wrote:
I found this a very thought-provoking read:
Given rapidly advancing tech, a 100 year old computer would be obsolete. Just look at what was available 100 years ago. If a computer had existed back then, it would be built with vacuum tubes and relays. Compare today's PCs and smart phones with even the mini computers, such as those from DEC and Data General, from 40 years ago.
On Fri, Mar 28, 2025, at 15:46, James Knott via talk wrote:
On 3/28/25 15:26, Daniel Wayne Armstrong via talk wrote:
I found this a very thought-provoking read:
Given rapidly advancing tech, a 100 year old computer would be obsolete. Just look at what was available 100 years ago. If a computer had existed back then, it would be built with vacuum tubes and relays. Compare today's PCs and smart phones with even the mini computers, such as those from DEC and Data General, from 40 years ago.
Agreed. No question. In fact, such a device as outlined in the above linked thought experiment would be considered by some metrics to be obsolete compared to what is available *today*. But even just as an exercise I think its useful to consider what kind of computer you would want in scenarios where: * internet access is intermittent or unavailable * grid power sources are intermittent or unavailable * extremely sturdy, and... * when breaks do occur be easily repairable, ideally with readily available materials at hand I'm fascinated by the endurance of the Voyager probes, which have about as much processing power as the key fobs in our pockets. With the technology we have today, what kind of computers could we make and what software would they run that would get Voyager kinds of longevity?
participants (2)
-
Daniel Wayne Armstrong -
James Knott