Uncategorized – Page 5 – Auxiliary Memory

The Forsytes on TV

by James Wallace Harris, 6/13/26

Would anyone still be reading John Galsworthy if British television didn’t keep producing new versions of The Forsyte Saga? Galsworthy did win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932, the year before he died, but that recognition seldom guarantees an enduring audience.

I must admit I wouldn’t be reading Galsworthy books today if I hadn’t been a fan of all three miniseries based on The Forsyte Saga. Technically, The Forsyte Saga is the title Galsworthy gave to the first trilogy of novels based on the Forsyte family. All nine novels are called The Forsyte Chronicles.

I know it sounds obsessive that I’m reading the books after watching 42 episodes of the three miniseries. However, the novels color in the main characters with greater detail. They also flesh out all the minor characters we see standing around the main characters on the screen.

The literary world has forgotten Galsworthy as a Victorian materialist who didn’t make the evolutionary step to modernism. Virginia Woolf was particularly hard on Galsworthy for failing to portray the inner lives of his characters. We don’t get deep, long stream-of-consciousness narratives, but I do feel Galsworthy describes the inner world of his characters, sometimes explicitly but often implied through dialogue and action.

Soames Foryste, who readers will hate as much as Irene Forsyte hates him, does get our sympathy. Soames is so well developed over six novels that he feels like one of the historical figures Lytton Strachey wrote about in Eminent Victorians.

Personally, I don’t know why Anthony Trollope and John Galsworthy aren’t as popular with readers as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. They fill in a gap in English history for readers who study history through novels. Galsworthy is well-suited for those who love Downton Abbey, which explains why British television has produced it three times.

Amazon has the Forsyte Collection for 99 cents, which claims to contain everything in 3,355 pages. There are several audiobook editions, but I’m listening to the Naxos editions. Naxos packages the entire story of nine novels using their trilogy names: The Forsyte Saga, A Modern Comedy, and End of the Chapter.

Only the first six novels actually focus on the Forsytes; the last three deal with a distant cousin.

The Forsytes Saga (1967) miniseries has 26 parts, and covers the first six novels and interludes (short stories):

The Man of Property
In Chancery
To Let
The White Monkey
The Silver Spoon
Swan Song

The Forsyte Saga (2002) miniseries has 10 parts, and only covers the first three novels and interludes (short stories):

The Man of Property
In Chancery
To Let

The latest television version, The Forsytes (2025), had only six episodes in its first season and covered only part of The Man of Property. It had been renewed for seasons 2 and 3. For some reason, it changes the story from the books and the two other television series. I don’t recommend starting with this series, even though it has the most elaborate production.

I recommend watching the 1967 series, which is in black-and-white. The only place I could find it was on YouTube. Among the stars were two of my favorites, Kenneth More and Susan Hampshire.

As far as I can remember, only Soames, Irene, and Winifred appear in all six of the first novels that focus on the Forsyte family from the 1880s until 1926. It involves at least ten love stories and eight marriages. It begins in Victorian times, spans the Edwardian, through World War I, and into the Jazz Age.

The 26 episodes of The Forsyte Saga reminded me a great deal of the 26 episodes of The Pallisers, which is based on six novels by Anthony Trollope. It made me wonder if Galsworthy was a fan of Trollope. But it also reminded me of the 12-volume novel series, Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell, and the four-part TV series of the same name. These English writers like to span generations, combining character drama and British history.

Although there are plenty of reasons to hate Soames Forsyte, I found him a fascinating character. I was very sympathetic to Irene Forsyte, but I also wanted to condemn her. I both liked and disliked Jon and Fleur. In the 1967 version, Fleur was played by Susan Hampshire. It’s hard to judge the faults of a character played by such a beautiful actress.

I’ve already seen the 2002 version twice, and I’m looking forward to watching it again. According to WatchNow, it’s available on Netflix and PBS. Damian Lewis portrays Soames wonderfully. The character is so unlikable, yet over time, you develop great sympathy for the poor man.

Unfortunately, I haven’t taken to the new 2025 version, although I will give it another viewing. The actors all look too young and beautiful. The costumes, sets, and production are luscious. Visually, it reminds me of HBO’s The Gilded Age. The latest big historical dramas all seem to be revising the past, so everyone is young and beautiful. I really appreciated all the genuinely old-looking characters in the 1967 version.

The miniseries focuses on romantic relationships. The novels also explore many other kinds of relationships. Soames and his father. Soames and his uncles and aunts. Soames with his brothers and sisters. Soames is the patron of Philip the artist. But they are also romantic rivals for Irene. In the second trilogy, A Modern Comedy, the novels focus on Soames’ relationship with his daughter Fleur. In the second trilogy, we see Soames in several business and political relationships. And we see Soames’ relationship to art – he’s a collector of paintings.

And this is just the connections of Soames. There is an intense relationship between Old Jolyon, Young Jolyon, and his son Jolly. We encounter even more relationships with their wives and lovers. Young Jolyon is Soames’s first cousin, and the two families have several overlapping relationships.

The story focuses on marriage from Victorian times through the Jazz Age. To the first and second generations of Forystes, marriage was about improving the Forsyte holdings. Soames twice marries poor, beautiful women who come to despise him. Intense love fails other couples. In the first six novels, I can only recall one marriage where love succeeds.

I’ve read enough about Galsworthy to know that the complicated Forsytes were somewhat inspired by his own family. And Galsworthy stole his wife, Ada, from his cousin, and they lived unmarried for several years, hiding the scandal from his father. After his father died, his cousin divorced Ada, and Galsworthy married her. This is paralleled with Jolyon and Soames.

In other words, there is great depth in these novels that makes The Forsytes worth reproducing for television. And it should encourage fans to read the novels.

JWH

Finding Old Movies on YouTube When You Don’t Have TCM

by James Wallace Harris, 6/2/26

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is the gold standard for old movie lovers. Unfortunately, in the era of cord-cutting, fewer people have access to this wonderful resource. TCM is available via several live-streaming services, including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, and Sling TV. However, they are becoming as expensive as cable TV.

Luckily, my wife is willing to pay for YouTube TV, so I don’t have to worry. However, I have friends who love old movies and don’t have TCM. I invite them over to watch movies with me, but it’s not the same.

The mood to sit in a dark room lit only by the flicker of a black-and-white movie can strike at any time. When I say old, I mean films produced before Beatlemania.

To show how old I am, I’d call The Graduate (1967) a new movie. I define old movies as those I first saw on television growing up. And new movies are those that came out after I started going to the movies on my own in 1962, when I was ten. I’d tend to call films like The Matrix (1999) recent films.

There are plenty of streaming services that show new and recent movies. It’s hard to find old movies if you don’t have TCM.

YouTube is a great resource for old movies. If you don’t subscribe to YouTube Premium Lite ($8.99) or YouTube Premium ($15.99), you’ll have to watch ads or rent the films individually. See YouTube Premium. Lite just removes most commercials, and full Premium adds YouTube Music. Watch this video for a full explanation. I’m subscribed to Lite because I have a Spotify subscription.

Go to YouTube’s Movies and TV page to view their catalog newer movies.

However, many old films are uploaded by regular users. These you have to find yourself, but they are a great source of old movies that aren’t shown on TCM. TCM’s library is great on MGM and Warner Brothers films, but is less good for many studios. For example, YouTube has lots of films from 20th Century Fox and Screen Gems that you don’t see on TCM.

Whenever you’re searching JustWatch and it lists no streaming sources for the film or TV show you’re looking for, check on YouTube.

In recent years, I’ve craved widescreen black-and-white films from the 1950s, and I’ve struck gold on YouTube in finding them.

I should warn y’all that watching old movies on YouTube can be tricky. In the early years of YouTube, old movies were uploaded in low resolution. But over time, they are reloaded in higher resolutions. If you find a movie that’s not in 1080p or 720p, be sure to use the search function to locate other copies.

Also, some uploaders trim off the opening credits. I hate that. I assume they are trying to avoid copyright strikes. Others like to overlay their channel IDs onto the film. I really hate that! My TV can upscale a 360p or 480p copy to make it watchable, but I generally check for 720p or 1080p copies first.

I’m also annoyed by colorized prints. Generally, I won’t watch them. However, I am intrigued by David Adiss’s effort to convert The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio with AI, and colorize it with AI.

Another problem is that films are uploaded without titles or alternate titles. I guess this is a shade area of the law. Check IMDb.org.

On the other hand, I’ve found stunning prints of old movies on YouTube. My soul finds great beauty in black-and-white cinematography.

It’s possible to watch old movies on your phone or tablet on YouTube, but I strongly recommend adding the YouTube app to your smart TV interface, or your Roku, Fire TV Stick, or Apple TV box.

I also recommend having a Google account. This should be automatic if you’re using a smart TV with Google TV or Android TV.

If you’re logged into YouTube, you can save old films to Watch Later. Also, Google remembers what you like and suggests additional old movies to your feed. I now have a nice library of old movies waiting to be seen.

Below are movies I’ve watched on YouTube with IMDB ratings. If you like a film, click on “Watch on YouTube.” It will take you to YouTube, and you can add it to your Watch Later list.

No Down Payment (1957) – 7.1

The Tattered Dress (1957) – 6.5

Oliver Twist (1948) – 7.8

The Admirable Crichton (1957) – 7.1

Separate Tables (1958) – 7.3

Two of a Kind (1951) – 6.6

Rawhide (1951) – 7.1

The Big Combo (1955) – 7.3

Garden of Evil (1954) 6.6 4K

House of Strangers (1949) – 7.3

Vicki (1953) – 6.5

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) – 7.6

These are just the ones I’ve seen recently. You’ll note the many film noir flicks. Once I started watching them, YouTube kept offering me more. As the algorithm learns your tastes in films, the better the system gets. Be patient.

JWH

Are We Witnessing a New Age of Computing?

by James Wallace Harris, 6/2/26

When I first took computer classes in 1971, the school’s main computer was an IBM 360. That represented The Age of the Mainframe. At the time, The Age of the Minicomputer was coming into being. But what I fondly remember is The Age of the Personal Computer developing at the end of the 1970s. Back then, they were called Microcomputers, but that’s a weird term to use now, considering how small computers have gotten with smartphones and smartwatches.

I remember the Internet coming to my university in the 1980s and the World Wide Web in the 1990s. Each new technology ushered in a new age for society. Sometimes it’s not new technology, but how it’s used, such as social media and cloud computing. The web has been transformed several times by new coding languages and techniques.

We’re now a few years into The Age of Artificial Intelligence, but I’d say it’s only at the stage of 8-bit computers back in the late 1970s. Yesterday, Nvidia announced a new line of laptops using the RTX Spark chips. They will run Windows. In some ways, this is just Microsoft catching up to Apple when it dropped Intel and switched to the M1 chips.

Windows and all its apps will have to be rewritten and recompiled for the new Nvidia chips. Apple and its app developers had to do the same thing. But how many people will buy these machines? Apple transformed itself and the industry by moving to RISC chips. Is this what Microsoft plans to do, too?

How many people will buy these new Nvidia machines? The current DGX Spark machines run $3,600 – $5,000. That kind of money is reasonable if you’re trying to set up local AI compared to custom-building a PC with high-end graphics cards. And configuring a Mac with 128 GB of memory runs as much.

Are we looking at a new age of personal computers with 128 GB to 1 TB of memory? How many people will spend $5,000 to $10,000 or more on such machines? Especially now that Apple has created a growing market for $599 computers?

Is computer technology evolving past personal computing? I’m typing this on a Mac Mini M4, which I paid $549 at Amazon. It does everything I want. It’s completely quiet and so fast that I no longer worry about speed.

How many individuals are willing to spend $5,000 to have a private AI? Currently, most people use the online frontier model AIs for free or $20 a month. At $20 a month, you can use the latest frontier model AI for 250 months for $5,000. Open source AI models that can run on 128 GB are getting pretty damn good, but still not as good as the frontier models.

I can understand businesses wanting to keep their data private and using local AI. But what do individuals have that they need to keep secret? Generating porn? Running internet scams? Does that great American novel you’re writing need to be hidden from AIs?

When Apple came out with the MacBook Neo, I wondered if they were killing their own market for MacBook Airs? I’d say 90% of their users would be happy enough with the $600 machine instead of springing for the $1200 machine. Hell, there are a lot of people buying the more expensive MacBooks that don’t need anything more powerful than the Neo.

I have an M1 MacBook Air and feel no need to upgrade.

Computers became fast enough years ago for the average user. Most families gave up desktops, and unless you’re a student or need a computer for work, you don’t even need a laptop. Many of my friends do all their computing on a phone or tablet. And most of my friends who do use AI use it from their phones.

Many economic pundits talk about an AI bubble. Already, corporations are pulling back from building all those billion-dollar data centers they had planned last year. There are countless scientific, medical, and business tasks for those new RTX Spark chip computers. But do we need that power for personal computing? Especially when the average Joe is better off spending $20 a month for Gemini.

No one needs an Nvidia computer to run Microsoft Office. And only a small percentage of users subscribing to Adobe’s Creative Suite will need one. There are high-end applications for such computers, but how many are used in people’s homes?

How many Apple users really need the Pro, Max, and Ultra versions of the M chips? How many M4 users really need to upgrade to the M5?

There might be two new ages of computing dawning. The Age of Its Fast Enough Computing, and The Age of Its Never Fast Enough Computing.

And with every year, the percentage of Its Fast Enough users will grow ever closer to 100%.

If data centers weren’t jacking up the price of memory and storage, we’d be seeing fantastic $300 computers for sale everywhere. Ones that were more than good enough for most people.

JWH

Notes on the “Introduction” to A WORLD APPEARS by Michael Pollan

by James Wallace Harris, 6/3/26

When I was little, I pondered two philosophical questions that would make my head ache. The first was, “Why am I here?” The second, “Why isn’t there ‘nothing’ instead of something?” I don’t think the second question can ever be answered. Although I concluded as a kid that “nothing” can’t exist. If it could, we wouldn’t exist.

A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness by Michael Pollan is resonating with me more than anything else I’ve read that tries to answer the first question. I’m reading the hardback while also listening to the audiobook. This forces me to go slow. But I’ve also decided to start over and take notes chapter by chapter.

This is my fourth attempt to take notes. I tried underlining in the Kindle edition. I tried using Obsidian. And I tried putting my notes into HTML. I want to be able to cut and paste text and to hyperlink to sources on the web. Using Obsidian or writing HTML code in a text editor was hindering me. So I decided to try collecting my notes in WordPress.

I find reading the Wikipedia entries for all the terms and people Pollan mentions helps me understand what I’m reading. I also feel I’ll eventually need to read the books mentioned, too.

Introduction: The Wager (pp. xiii-xxxv)

Christof Koch

With Koch at his side, Crick set out to explain how it is that a particular piece of brain tissue generates the feeling of being alive—the sense of a self in possession of subjective experience.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xiv). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

David Chalmers

The hard problem of consciousness

First, there were what he called the “easy problems” of consciousness, which included figuring out the workings of mental operations like learning, memory, discrimination, and perception. Not all that easy, but at least we had a proven scientific method for approaching such behavioral and cognitive functions in terms of specific measures of brain activity. And then there was what he memorably called the “hard problem” of consciousness: the puzzle of why any of these mental operations are accompanied by any conscious experience whatsoever. “Why doesn’t all this information-processing go on ‘in the dark,’ free of any inner feel?” he asked in a subsequent paper.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xv). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The wager:

When the scientist and the philosopher met in Bremen in 1998, drinking together late into the night, Chalmers expressed doubt that the search for neural correlates would succeed in the foreseeable future, much less solve the hard problem even if it did. Koch, with the brashness of a young man backed by one of the most brilliant scientists of his time, proposed a wager: Within twenty-five years, we would find the physical footprint of consciousness in the brain, which he predicted would comprise a small set of specialized neurons responsible for subjective experience. The loser would deliver to the winner a case of fine wine.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xvi). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Galileo’s Error by Philip Goth (Amz)

Ever since Galileo’s time, and at his urging, science has cordoned off the mind—or the soul, as it was then known—leaving it to the exclusive jurisdiction of the priests and poets. This was both a political move and a practical one—political because it would (Galileo hoped) avoid bringing the hammer of the Church down on the scientific enterprise, and practical because (as Galileo foresaw) more progress could be made in the investigation of nature by focusing on objective qualities that could be measured rather than on subjective qualities that could not. With a few notable exceptions along the way (I’m thinking of Sigmund Freud and American philosopher-psychologist William James), this approach toward the science of the mind endured well into the twentieth century. Take, for example, behaviorism, the school of thought that dominated psychology for most of the twentieth century; it refused to deal with interiority or, really, anything but measurable outward behaviors. In light of this history, Christof Koch and David Chalmers stand out as pioneers.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (pp. xvi-xvii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The fact that consciousness can be altered by chemicals does not necessarily prove that consciousness is, at its core, a material phenomenon, but it would seem to lend at least some credence to the idea.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xx). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Who won the wager?

Chalmers won the bet, by the way. During a ceremony I attended at a consciousness conference in New York City in June 2023, Koch graciously conceded and presented Chalmers with a case of Madeira.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xx). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) – Giulo Tononi

According to IIT, every such moment of consciousness shares the same five specific qualities: It is “intrinsic” (that is, it has an internal perspective); it is “composed” of many distinct phenomenal parts (think of the way the experience combines elements of perception, memory, feeling, imagination, etc.); it is “integrated,” or unified (these elements are joined together in a single experience at a time); it is “definitive” (it is this and not that, in other words); and it is “bounded” (it has an edge beyond which the conscious perception doesn’t go).

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xxii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I don’t pretend to understand all the complexities of IIT, and the math can get pretty abstruse, but it seems to me that the straightforward question posed to Koch in Zurich hasn’t been completely answered: Why should neurons organized and exchanging information in any particular way necessarily feel like something? Koch and Tononi, who teamed up to refine IIT, have offered in reply an application of sheer intellectual brute force: Information integrated in the prescribed manner doesn’t just generate consciousness or correlate with it—no, integrated information is consciousness, full stop. The two are identical. The theory is controversial, to say the least, and no one has yet figured out a way to prove or disprove it.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (pp. xxii-xxiii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Global Workplace Theory (GWT, GNWT)

This theory contends that the brain consists of a great many modules, or networks, that spend most of their time processing information unconsciously—information from the sense organs, from the body, from memory, from emotions, and so on. After all, the overwhelming majority of the work done by our brains takes place completely beneath our notice. So how and why does some of this material bubble up into our conscious awareness?

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xxiii). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Chalmers believes that neither IIT nor GWT solves the hard question of consciousness.

Now this is very mind-blowing:

When I asked Koch what the world would look like absent all consciousness, he didn’t hesitate: “Particles and waves, that’s all. Dust! Just dust!” Discrete objects, time, even space—all are constructs, or figments, of consciousness, and all would melt away as soon as it did.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xxvi). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

It’s entirely possible to go through life without worrying about the “problem” of consciousness—what it is and how it came to be. In fact, it takes a certain kind of mind for “the problem” to arise—one that is self-conscious, or aware that it is aware, and marvels at this mystery (which is, when you stop to think about it, astounding). It is astounding that in a universe we often assume to be dead and purposeless, there evolved beings who can experience this reality and have feelings and thoughts not only about the appearing world but about the fact that they have feelings and thoughts at all! And it is still more astounding that these beings have minds capable of imagining counterfactuals, such as the possibility of a world without consciousness.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (p. xxix). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Hermann Hesse

Edmund Husserl

Chapters in A World Appears:

Sentience
Feeling
Thought
Self
Coda – The Cave

This, then, is the wager of A World Appears: that by the end of this journey, you will be more conscious than you were before it. Conscious of what? Of the rhythms and workings of your own mind; of the sentience that is all around us in nature; and of the improbable fact—the miracle!—that in this universe of rock and fire and ice and infinite space, we are somehow not only here but aware.

Pollan, Michael. A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness (pp. xxxiv-xxxvi). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

JWH

STEVE JOBS IN EXILE by Geoffrey Cain

by James Wallace Harris, 6/1/26

When I first saw Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary by Geoffrey Cain, advertised on Facebook, I thought, “Geez, is there anything left unsaid about Steve Jobs?” After all the biographies and biopics, is there anything new to be revealed about the man? I decided to take a chance because the book focuses on the twelve years of the NeXT Computer. Besides, I had not read The Second Coming of Steve Jobs by Alan Deutschman in 2000, which covered the same period.

If I were to pitch this book to the average reader, I’d say: “Steve Jobs in Exile is about a world-class asshole who finds humility.” And for folks who dream of becoming entrepreneurs, I’d say, “Steve Jobs in Exile is a detailed checklist of what not to do.” This book really is about the man, and not the technology.

Interestingly, Walter Isaacson has written extensive biographies of both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. Do people read them because they are fascinated with invention or with billionaires? Both men are known for their egotism, arrogance, and cruelty toward the workers they managed. Steve Jobs in Exile is about a young man who achieved two historic successes in his twenties but then fell from grace, only to achieve a third success. Will we ever read about Elon Musk falling from grace and finding humility?

By the way, why does Jobs get so much credit when he wasn’t a programmer or electrical engineer? I give Steve Wozniak credit for the Apple computer. And credit for the Macintosh to the pirate team Jobs assembled. Was NeXT’s eventual redemption due to Jobs? Or despite him? I hoped Steve Jobs in Exile would have been more about the real inventors of NeXT computers and NeXTSTEP.

I had hoped Steve Jobs in Exile would be another Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder – it wasn’t, but I still found it an engrossing read. The first part of the book made me despise Steve Jobs, but eventually Cain convinced me to admire the man a great deal. This nonfiction book was like a novel with a protagonist who grows and ultimately overcomes their faults. The book reignited my addiction to reading about the history of personal computers. I’ll probably go read David Pogue’s new book, Apple: The First 50 Years, soon, even though I’ve read plenty of histories on Apple Computers, too.

I was always a PC guy, and not a Mac guy, until last year. Although I used Macs at work. From 1978 until 2013, my job involved ordering computers, setting them up, and training their users. I worked at a college of education with about 150 faculty and staff, and just under 3,000 students. I’ve probably used every model computer Apple made during those years. I also set up PCs, starting with the first IBM PC with diskette drives. I guess I’ve unboxed and set up over a thousand computers.

Also, back in 1978, I became addicted to computer magazines. I’d go all over town, checking computer stores, newsstands, and bookstores two or three times a week for the latest issues of magazines devoted to computers. That’s when I first learned about Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. I wanted an Apple II, but could only afford an Atari 400.

Back in the 1990s, sales reps from NeXT came to our PC user group and demoed the NeXT Cube. Damn, I wanted one of them, but at $10,000, it could only be a fantasy. I guess that’s why I read Steve Jobs in Exile. I remembered that desire for a NeXT computer.

Several years ago, I got the hankering to buy a classic computer like an Apple II or Commodore 64, or even a NeXT Cube. NeXT machines do show up on eBay, such as this one for $5,817.54.

However, after playing with operating system emulators online, I realized that the futuristic NeXT Computer from the 1990s is now horribly primative. Just watch how painful it is to watch NeXTSTEP 1.0 boot up. From time to time, I still hanker for a classic computer. But then I visualize using one, recalling its limitations and why I was always upgrading to a newer computer.

I take consolation in that I’m using Tahoe 26.5 on my Mac Mini M4 right now, which is a descendant of NeXTSTEP. That didn’t stop me from going to Archive.org and reading old issues of NeXTWORLD magazine.

Reading about Steve Jobs again reminded me of how a few men back in the 20th century changed all of our lives. If we filmed It’s A Wonderful Life today, and imagined removing Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, just how different would our society be? Sure, similar devices and operating systems would develop, but would society unfold again like it did? Was the GUI and smartphone inevitable? Aren’t most tech billionaires rich because they got to an idea first, and if they hadn’t, many others would have?

Why are there so many books written about the men who sold us computers, and not about the computers and technology? Did Steve Jobs change society, or did the iPhone?

I’d love to read a detailed history of the graphical user interface (GUI). Was NeXTSTEP really superior to Sun OS, Windows NT, or OS/2? Who really invented the various elements of these operating systems?

JWH