What happened to graphics terminals?

[e100]

It seems that computing has gone full circle. Nowadays the drive is to centralise everything and have the bare minimum running on the client display which is usually  some bizzare hybrid HTML Javascript monster. Wouldn't it be simpler if we all just went back to using graphics terminals like the DEC VT340?

[Mr. Scram]

It seems that computing has gone full circle. Nowadays the drive is to centralise everything have the bare minimum running on the client display which is usually  some bizzare hybrid HTML Javascript monster. Wouldn't it be simpler if we all just went back to using graphics terminals like the DEC VT340?

The beauty of that circle is that it never stops. People can keep reinventing the wheel and making money with tried and discarded concepts.

[SiliconWizard]

True, things seem to be running in circles a bit concerning computing.
It's now all trendy again to have huge and powerful servers to run code from, and store users' data. If only the youngsters knew their grandparents were already doing this.

The idea is pretty much similar, but nowadays technology has obviously evolved. The amount of processing power required to run a web browser is just orders of magnitude larger than what could handle a simple graphics terminal. Another thing that makes it slightly different, is that web browsers are able to run code locally, which a dumb terminal could not.

[MyHeadHz]

The latest buzz word is Web 3.0.

Web 2.0 was a marketing term to convince people to trust the cloud someone else's servers with their data.  Since then, breach after breach has caused people to lose confidence.  Web 3.0 is being touted as a return to security and user control, and less reliance on remote services where applicable, as opposed to the current 'trust everything to the internet' that we've been pounded with for years.



I fully expect marketing firms to somehow screw it up for profit's sake.

We should really work toward reducing reliance on large service providers for things as much as possible.  Remote DNS and other ideas sounded like a good idea at the time, but they are being used by firms for abusing data and privacy.  Computing and networking has advanced to the point where a local hosts file is practical again, and we should really consider returning to basics where relevant.

[SiliconWizard]

Ahah yes.

There's also this new "trend" with AI: they now call that "Edge computing" or something. Which means running some AI locally on devices, instead of having it run on remote servers, at least for basic tasks.

If it was just plain "commercial" marketing, I wouldn't mind that much. Problem is that this "marketing" has infested computer science, and the academic circles.

[shakalnokturn]

I'm looking to get my IBM X station 140 (model 7010) on internet, anyone have a firmware update?

As for a beautiful free internet, "personal" data... all that was over a long time ago now.

How many copy's of important data do you have? How many permanently off line? What proportion of it has a paper or stone backup?

[Alex Eisenhut]

I wouldn't mind a Tektronix 4014 or IBM 2250 terminal.

[Gyro]

Wouldn't it be simpler if we all just went back to using graphics terminals like the DEC VT340?

Ah, good old Regis graphics, I had it for a while on a work VT125.

[SiliconWizard]

We should really work toward reducing reliance on large service providers for things as much as possible.  Remote DNS and other ideas sounded like a good idea at the time, but they are being used by firms for abusing data and privacy.  Computing and networking has advanced to the point where a local hosts file is practical again, and we should really consider returning to basics where relevant.

Of course. Obviously, people were doing that in the old days because they had NO CHOICE. Technology back then made this the only viable option. Let's not forget, though, that the whole personal computer industry started while everyone thought it still held true; and quickly it was shown that small, personal computers could be useful for some small tasks, even back then!

As I said, these days, even the smallest "computer" (can even be a mobile phone) has enough processing power and storage to be able to do many things locally, and relying on remote servers actually rarely makes ANY sense: the devices use almost as much (or sometimes, actually a lot more) resources and power to give you access to any web site (and worse, web apps) through a web browser, than they do if you use the same kind of application strictly locally!!