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SubjectRe: time_t size: The year 2038 bug?
On Wed, Jan 05, 2000 at 05:13:00PM -0600, Bill Wendling wrote:

> My main point was that 38 years is a LONG TIME in the computer industry.
> Are you still using Wordperfect 5.1 on a 386 DOS machine at 40 MHz? It
> requires much less energy than the Windows boxen running at 200+MHz and
> it has the added feature that secretaries really liked it and the Windows
> version of the same product sucked (from what I understand). That was 10
> years ago...

But your are completely missing the point! What chip is in your cell phone?
Most likely an ARM or Mips. 32bits. What chip is used in Fords electronic
motor control? PPC4xx. 32bits. What chip is used in the german d-box (DVB
settop box)? M68323 with the next generation going for PPC4xx. Still 32bits.

Now look at the Cobalt Qube and Raq systems, those are the systems you will
see more and more, not the allround-PC. It's the appliance market which is
the future, not the good old computer market. And there power consumption
and price count, not peak-performance.

> Sure, you could run your web server/widget on an ancient 32 bit machine
> in 2038, but you won't be able to get support for that machine and it
> will seem all but useless.

And for most purposes these servers will be powerful enough and as
long as the customers are content with those system's performance, there
will be people offering support for them. Why is Intel still investing in
the StrongARM platform (which will deliver 600 MIPS on 1 Watt of power
consumption in the next generation if what i have read is true)? Because
nobody with a working brain would put an Itanium in a cell phone or motor
control or palm pad or IP phone or ... You name it and it will use 32bit
embedded controllers in 99% of the time (unless an 8 or 16bit controller
is enough which still are around and dead cheap!)

> with what does the job. They are interested in fast, sexy hardware and
> cool apps with lots of eye candy. Not that that's bad or anything.

That is not true. Most of the people i know are content using 5 year old
hardware and 5 year old software as long as that combo gets the job done.
And most of the time it does.

Yours,
Dominik Kubla

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