Look at some of the recent changes in PC design, however small, simple, subtle or drastic.
Once, we had ISA bus and only ISA bus. More recently, PCI became standard. What will the next developement be?
Look at the changes in processor architecture. Regardless of other change or consistency, will not the processor and it's architecture remain central to the computer system?
What about protocols and such? With protocols and standards in place, the multitude of component manufacturers can be sure, or at least try to be reasonably sure, that their components maintain compatibility with others. Of course, I can't put a Mach64ct in my AGP slot...oh, wait, we've advanced. It's not just faster, it's a whole new form.
Then there's the changes in media storage. Used to be all magnetic media. Now it's quickly getting to the point where magnetic media is obsolete...writable CDs are cheaper than floppies once were (still are?), with hundreds of times the capacity...my laptop wasn't even shipped with a floppy drive.
As for the magnetic media we still have, it's vastly improved. Only a few years ago, 120mb was a good size drive. Now a 120Gb drive can be had at a reasonable price.
And then there's Sony's Memory Stick and other such flash-ROM & similar type devices. Unheard of only a short time ago.
Monitors...used to be CRT, now TFT is quickly rivaling the old standard. KDS 15" for $350, and it gets good reviews. I have to say it's caught my eye. A good 15" CRT once cost more than that.
And what about communications technology, with the changes we've seen?
No, I think the changes have been more than you or even I realize, on many levels. The key thing is, there's always been some backward-compatibility to keep the market moving and allow upgrading to be done on a modular basis. That to me is a good thing. |
