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[Hilos de Discusión] [Fecha] [Tema] [Autor]Me tope con esto por ahi... se los paso al costo... The New Emperor?s Computer By Michael Finley It was customary that all emperors be lovers of the latest mechanical and technological gadgets. This custom of early adaptation went back many dynasties, back to the day of the mechanical nightingale. So it was expected, when the old emperor died and the new emperor was installed, that he would be fair game, like his fathers before him, for the usual vendors and their gewgaws. One day the imperial technology tailors arrived at the palace, with great fanfare, to fit him for new wares. "We have come," the top tailor proclaimed, "to fulfill the promise of transparency." The courtiers who frequented the emperor?s computer quarters, hearing this, made snide remarks. "What need has the emperor of transparency?" they asked. For surely transparency would allow others to see right through the imperial trappings. He would be, for all practical purposes, naked to the world. But the emperor, with a quick gesture, bade them be silent. "Is it I who will be transparent," he inquired, "or the technology?" The tailor bowed. "Your excellency is wise beyond measure," he said. "Transparency relates to the system underlying the computer. Its intent is to make computing easy. Instead of worrying how the computer works, you simply push buttons, and it works. You don?t need to understand the computer. The computer does the understanding for you." "Indeed, transparency sounds like a blessing to all people who communicate in this fashion," the emperor opined. "But is there a price users must pay?" The tailors glanced nervously at one another, then smiled. "Well, once we hide the code, it stays hidden," one said. "But that?s good," another chimed in. "You never have to deal with it." "It crashes a bit," blurted a tailor apprentice. The others quickly hushed him up. "Transparency," the top tailor intoned, "is very complex. It requires a more powerful computer, more memory, more information storage, more processing speed. But we can provide all that?free of charge to his excellency!" The emperor stroked his red beard. "But if I move to this new standard, won?t my subjects be forced to invest in it, in order to keep up with me? And won?t many, unable to make this investment, be left behind?" The tailors fidgeted in their robes. The old emperor, the one with the migrating beauty mark, would simply clap his hands and say "Goody, goody!" when they made a presentation. This one was being?difficult. "You give me these remarkable technologies," said the emperor, "and for that you have my gratitude. But then you charge my subjects for these same amenities. They feel they must pay tribute to you in order to remain in my good graces. So they are forever hurrying to catch up with me, while the technology keeps changing, ever more rapidly. "Wouldn?t it be wiser to create a stable platform we could all compute on, and call a halt to this anxious, expensive race?" The top tailor began to protest, but the emperor cut him short. "Your transparency is marvelous," he said, "and I wish you to pursue the goal of user-friendliness. In time, it will be a blessing to us all. "But a more fitting goal for now would be a computing medium in which everyone may participate, whose code would be openly available, and whose operation is stable and reliable. And it should be free." "But excellency," the tailor sputtered, "progress requires a continuous tension between what is and what can be. Your proposal, so thoughtful at first glance, runs the risk of eliminating that vital tension. Technology must needs stretch us in order to perform its function." The emperor thought about this, and decided to honor the tailor?s observation. So he had them hung by their thumbs in the market square. Around the neck of each he hung a placard with the picture of a thimble, and a diagonal line running through it. And so they twisted and turned in plain view of the populace, silent except for the stretching of the rope, as a reminder of the importance of maintaining innovative tension, and a warning of the dangers of running too transparent a game. -- _______________________________ Jose Alberto Abreu Executive Editor Plan B Mystical Enterprises _______________________________ **************************************************************** "Auction Anyone? - Check out ShowNow.com" http://webfarm.mediaplex.com/click_thru_request/211-1316j-1387 ****************************************************************