Microsoft vet laments a world where even toothbrushes need reboots
- Reference: 1738488667
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/02/02/raymond_chen_restarts_updates/
- Source link:
"My electric toothbrush was acting up," he [1]said . "The internet says that I needed to reboot my electric toothbrush."
"Pretty much no part of that last sentence made any sense 40 years ago."
[2]
Certainly, 40 years ago there was no internet in the way it is understood today. Toothbrushes were primarily operated by a vigorous motion of the wrist rather than an electric current. And a reboot was something most people associated with a new pair of wellies.
[3]
[4]
To be fair, the word "reboot" goes back more than four decades, but it has only recently become associated with everyday appliances. This writer has an oven that demanded a reboot after its clock got terribly confused about daylight saving time, and a car that refused to go into gear without a software update and a restart.
Chen has only to look as far as his own employer: It's been almost 40 years since Windows was first released. Users soon became accustomed to performing regular restarts to keep the system stable. This became an unwanted feature of the operating system as time went by thanks to a never-ending stream of updates, some of which require the computer to be turned off and on.
[5]Veteran Microsoft engineer shares some enterprise support tips
[6]Windows 95 setup was three programs in a trench coat, Microsoft vet reveals
[7]If a cheesy '80s flick is a good metaphor for how you run projects, something is wrong
[8]Microsoft whiz dishes the dirt on the Blue Screen Of Death's colorful past
The same applies to consoles. Where once the insertion of a cartridge and a flick of the on switch was enough to kick off a few hours of mindless fun, now, if updates have not been assiduously applied, there can be a substantial wait while patches are downloaded, applied, and the inevitable reboot occurs. This, we're told, is progress.
Four decades ago, the idea of a stranger in an online forum suggesting that a toothbrush must be rebooted to make it work would have been laughable. Now everything seems to need an update and a reboot. While technology has improved hugely over the years, the acceptance that everything needs to be "smart" is dumb.
[9]
And as for Chen? "Oh, by the way, my attempts to reboot the electric toothbrush were unsuccessful. I had to replace it."
Hopefully not with something powered by Copilot: "I've auto-signed you up for Microsoft Dentistry 365. It'll only cost a molar or two." ®
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[1] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20250128-00/?p=110815
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z59QUx54Ytz0ztFCF7XfagAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z59QUx54Ytz0ztFCF7XfagAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z59QUx54Ytz0ztFCF7XfagAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/06/raymond_chen_support_desk_advice/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/19/chen_windows_95_setup/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/16/microsoft_highlander/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/02/who_wrote_windows_bsod/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z59QUx54Ytz0ztFCF7XfagAAAAU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: This, we're told, is progress
> we accept what we're told because we want it to be true
Speak for yourself!
I'll admit when I've gone for the least worst option and lament that it does not represent "progress" outside of the minds of the cabal of marketeers.
Programmers not very good
In my career as a programmer, I felt that many of my colleagues were not very good. Management made that worse by their drive to get it sold rather than get it right. I fear for a future where AI writes and tests software.
Bring back flowcharts - the two dimensional analysis of the logic.
How else...
How else are those companies going to force their customers to buy a new one ?
How else will those companies be able to spy on all of their customers ?
How else will they train their 'A.I.' if not for grabbing ALL of your personal data...
Read the original
Especially [1]this comment ...
[1] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20250128-00/?p=110815&commentid=142300#comment-142300
You should never need to reboot a machine.
was a axiom I learned 40 years ago. You should know which element is misbehaving and be able to reload it live.
If you can't then it's not really a very good operating system.
Nothing in the past 40 has changed that fact. The only thing that has changed is the lack of skills needed to make it true.
It's easier to reboot than to research.
This, we're told, is progress
The problem, ultimately, is not that we're told this, but that we accept what we're told because we want it to be true, despite the evidence to the contrary.