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Cheques being phased out in Australia by 2030
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TimFox:

--- Quote from: coppice on October 24, 2023, 02:31:22 pm ---
--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 02:04:05 pm ---I remember when the Cooley-Tukey algorithm for rapidly computing the Discrete Fourier Transform was a new thing.

--- End quote ---
You were around when Gauss was alive?

--- End quote ---

No, but my long life overlaps Cooley and Tukey, and their publication of the algorithm.
Prior to that publication, popular opinion held was that computing a DFT was a waste of time (except when only one or a few of the resulting frequency bins was needed).
See  https://www.cis.rit.edu/class/simg716/Gauss_History_FFT.pdf
Perhaps if Gauss had published his work, and had access to modern computing hardware, history would be different.
Shortly after Cooley and Tukey published their algorithm, Cooley and others researched the history of similar work more thoroughly.
coppice:

--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 04:52:47 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on October 24, 2023, 02:31:22 pm ---
--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 02:04:05 pm ---I remember when the Cooley-Tukey algorithm for rapidly computing the Discrete Fourier Transform was a new thing.

--- End quote ---
You were around when Gauss was alive?

--- End quote ---

No, but my long life overlaps Cooley and Tukey, and their publication of the algorithm.
Prior to that publication, popular opinion held was that computing a DFT was a waste of time (except when only one or a few of the resulting frequency bins was needed).
See  https://www.cis.rit.edu/class/simg716/Gauss_History_FFT.pdf
Perhaps if Gauss had published his work, and had access to modern computing hardware, history would be different.
Shortly after Cooley and Tukey published their algorithm, Cooley and others researched the history of similar work more thoroughly.

--- End quote ---
It wasn't just Gauss that realised how many terms become zero when the number of elements in a discrete transform is a power of two. Reading the history of fast Fourier transforms is a lesson in how easily innovation gets lost over and over. Rather like LDPC or the youngsters losing track of a transform being possible by fairly compact low complexity optical methods.
TimFox:

--- Quote from: coppice on October 24, 2023, 05:00:04 pm ---
--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 04:52:47 pm ---
--- Quote from: coppice on October 24, 2023, 02:31:22 pm ---
--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 02:04:05 pm ---I remember when the Cooley-Tukey algorithm for rapidly computing the Discrete Fourier Transform was a new thing.

--- End quote ---
You were around when Gauss was alive?

--- End quote ---

No, but my long life overlaps Cooley and Tukey, and their publication of the algorithm.
Prior to that publication, popular opinion held was that computing a DFT was a waste of time (except when only one or a few of the resulting frequency bins was needed).
See  https://www.cis.rit.edu/class/simg716/Gauss_History_FFT.pdf
Perhaps if Gauss had published his work, and had access to modern computing hardware, history would be different.
Shortly after Cooley and Tukey published their algorithm, Cooley and others researched the history of similar work more thoroughly.

--- End quote ---
It wasn't just Gauss that realised how many terms become zero when the number of elements in a discrete transform is a power of two. Reading the history of fast Fourier transforms is a lesson in how easily innovation gets lost over and over. Rather like LDPC or the youngsters losing track of a transform being possible by fairly compact low complexity optical methods.

--- End quote ---

When comparing Columbus to Leif Ericsson, it is often said that after Columbus, the Americas stayed discovered.
coppice:

--- Quote from: TimFox on October 24, 2023, 05:01:37 pm ---When comparing Columbus to Leif Ericsson, it is often said that after Columbus, the Americas stayed discovered.

--- End quote ---
Yep. Its clearly relevance that keeps things known. LDPC didn't become relevant until decades after it was first worked out, so it was forgotten and needed rediscovering. Optical Fourier transforms became less relevant after AMD and others started driving the cost and size of a multiplier down, so people have started to forget about them. Its really sad. Chills in bearing castings are an interesting one. That was technology worked out by Victorians for broad industrial application, and the need for them didn't go away. The actual technology did, though..... until people in the 1970s and 1980s started questioning why 100 year old bearings were only just starting to need replacing, and why when they were replaced the new ones failed in a couple of years.
SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: tggzzz on October 24, 2023, 01:15:31 pm ---That is indeed one reason; the "conspiracy theory of history" is sometimes right.

Alternative reasons are "we are young and/or ignorant so we have triumphantly reinvented the wheel", "we think you are ignorant and easily lead up the garden path until after you have given us money". The former is the "cockup theory of history", the latter is another "conspiracy theory of history".

When younger (and still in my weak moments) I prefer the conspiracy theory. But usually the cockup theory is sufficient :( Depressing isn't it.

--- End quote ---

Usually, when new tech is promoted by older people, that means the goal is more control. When it's promoted by young ones, it's indeed more out of willing to do better than what people did before (which is natural and what has always driven us), but often without the experience to be objective about it. And the depressing part is that both can cooperate quite well to achieve things that do not benefit most of us.

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