Fracturing of computing
For many decades, there wasn't a huge unbridgeable gulf between the different computing systems people used. The home computers from the 1980s onward and the mini-computer in the back office, the games console, the fondleslab, the mobile phone, and so on, were all recognisably in a continuous space with one another. In whole or in part, they were scaled up or scaled down versions of the same thing.
A possible exception is mainframes.
What I am now noticing is that for a long time there has been a gradual fragmentation of the computing continuum, which will lead to a situation where individuals and small groups can no longer really operate their own versions of the systems large organisations do.
A few examples
- HTTP/3
- different programming languages and tooling for GPU and related programming
- AI-specific processors
- various TPM/DRM systems that lock a computer owner out of their own property
A note re HTTP/3's lack of support outside the biggest orgs
Analogy: the uniformity of football
An analogy is the state of English football. It was long felt very important that the same set of rules could be used universally: that the village competition could use the same rules and equipment as international games, the Premier League and the FA Cup final (not least as the village team could conceivably reach a late round of the FA Cup!).
There was a felt norm for uniformity, and the need to introduce referees who could use video footage to make decisions was recognised as compromising this principle.
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