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People have been mentioning flash memory for data storage earlier in the thread, so I think I'll say a few things about HDDs.
Note how the read/write heads on a hard disk drive move in the video below.
All the while this is happening, the head is maintaining a flying height of several nanometers. Microscopic alterations in the flying height will result in read/write errors given that a magnetic dipole field decreases rapidly in strength as distance increases.
Because even the most carefully manufactured platters have uneven metal oxide surfaces, the heads need to be adjusted continuously for motion and vibration, all the while reading densely packed magnetic data on platters spinning at speeds of up to 15000 RPM.
Even with SSDs becoming default storage on mobile devices, I can still appreciate HDDs as marvels of multi-disciplinary engineering.
...Even with SSDs becoming default storage on mobile devices, I can still appreciate HDDs as marvels of multi-disciplinary engineering.
I'll agree with this. I understand the current Latest Gen of super high capacity HDDs are sealed and filled with helium, so that the head clearances can be made even smaller.
But the above, along with not just the technology, but also the pricing. I currently have several Terrabytes of external HDD just because they're so cheep. It's actually less expensive to buy an 8 TB and use if for a redundant backup, than it is to burn 25 or 50 GB DVDs for backup, even if buying the blanks in bulk.
That, and chip RAM storage. 256 Gig (class 10) for about $100, gets you a chip that's the size of a thumbnail.Wow.
Finally, I like the 'convergence' of useful functions that have been added to the smartphone. This is not only cool-tech, it's convenient on a day to day basis. I'm just waiting for fold-able screens so I can have a phone that fits in my shirt pocket, but folds open enough to be used as a tablet.
I'd have to say, the Open Source Movement. Several leading tech companies would not even exist, if not for the fruits of Open Source. The technological results of this movement keeps me constantly amazed! And it's still going on. After trying to kill it off, even Microsoft and Apple, among other prominent tech companies have joined in and contributed.
I'd like to add -the World Wide Web (WWW) AND the first browsers, even before Mosaic.
I was already prowling "the Internet", via command line. The first time I read about the Web in some of the boards, then started using the early browsers,.... WHOA ... And then, Mosaic came along. Mind-blown! A whole new world was coming. So, for me, definitely WWW and the Web Browser.
VR. Even at this fairly early hardware stage, the use of 1s and 0s to create an environment that envelops you, that you can move around inside of and interact with is profound. It feels like what computer graphics have been leading up to.
VR. Even at this fairly early hardware stage, the use of 1s and 0s to create an environment that envelops you, that you can move around inside of and interact with is profound. It feels like what computer graphics have been leading up to.
AR and VR are definitely the next big transformation in tech. I think it has the potential to replace TV entertainment, especially when the environments can be remotely shared.
When the first computers arrived, they were crude and very limited in function. In time, they inspired all kind creativity and innovations to make them more useful. Among the most useful is the internet. And at the heart of everything is the software. From the humble early computers to the latest self-driving cars, smartphones, 3D printers, etc., software is the brain behind it all.
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Years ago I took an evening CNC machine which required you to tediously write machine code. The technology that amazes me now is working with a program where you draw the part on the screen, click in the right spot, and it writes thousands of lines of code in seconds.
For me, it has to be the co-operation and helpfulness of the goverment agents that stop by from time to time and provide me the new updates. They simply hook up their gizmo thing to my neck-jack, run their programs and down-loads for a few minutes and off they go! I sleep for awhile afterwards and they always seem to leave the house in a mess and my beer is gone. But I get free cable and don't even need a TV anymore.
I can’t believe they took your beer. That’s just cruel. Wasn’t there a guy who said, “if you like your beer...”
I am amazed at all the full-length books I can carry around on my phone. And someone will read a lot of them to me.
But the newest thing that amazes me is the new Flexible Displays. They should be coming soon. Imagine being able to roll up a display?!?! Mind boggling...
Ive heard this for years, but here we are in 2018 and nothing even close to this yet...?
I have a sneaky feeling computer tech is being suppressed or withheld.
We have kind of reached a point in this area, where if tech gets better, it would start to negatively effect Govts control and their ability to exert their authority too, I think this explains why we havent really seen much of anything that could truly be called groundbreaking or game changing.
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