Platform and Proprietary Software
When I used to work on web language project that involved language lessons with animation
and song activities with arts and crafts, I recall software being what was called "backwards compatible".
That meant that every update had to include the ability to recognize varied previous documents.
The other issue was readability between different software, requiring universal document formats,
such as 'jpeg' or 'giff' for images and 'txt' or 'doc' for text, etc. That was then compounded by the ability
of computers to read between systems. Not just Apple, Compaq and Microsoft, but all systems, which
in today's technology, means all apps and devices, cellphones, iPads, computers, etc. This was known as
"cross-platform". We used both Mac and Microsoft platforms which were able to run dynamic media, sound files
as well as video and slideshows, with interactive content. These were language lessons. One needed to be able
to learn and study from them. We were constantly testing content on both platforms, across 3 main browsers
to insure they would were viewable. Computer screens all varied in size back then, so there became a code
which would manage that by percentage, not absolute measure, to allow a display to fit document to size.
I remember software updates, which caused us to have to open documents in another software, to capture the
content and then resave them for continued access.
It pisses me off to no end that 25 years later, MS Word is the centre of the universe, and all other forms of text
must comply with them. It may or may not recognize images embedded in them, depending on macros written into their
program. Software programs are now called apps. The other format that has become universal is PDF from Adobe, which
can embody both image and text and keep them uniform, although not editable, since that format was meant to be a used
for a set legal document and even locked by password to authenticate it. Apps become as proprietary as the devices on
which they exist. For instance, iPhone, Android, Microsoft, Mac, etc. Even within Mac or Microsoft themselves, they
both have this problem of multiple platforms. Scaling a document for readability is an art, but computers only
treat it like digits. Are the bit and bytes there, yet not necessarily in that order?
That in itself might not be a problem, if I wasn't constantly being charged for everything. I used to buy a software
and then own it. Trouble was when it became outmoded, I was stuck with purchasing the "next generation" software
and upgraded hardware. This often meant memory increase requirement for more robust media such as sound and image.
Now we are charged annual fees for everything including 3rd party support software, because Microsoft didn't
finish the job and we need Anti-virus and cross-platform conversion, internet hookup, printer drivers, and on anon.
It has become one conglomerate entertainment industry, which monetizes usage on everything. Annual fees are the reality.
When was the last time you had to pay money to speak to someone. Maybe a psychiatrist? Ha-hah!
Over the past 25 years I have filled up 6 TB-hard-drives with data from art projects and business activities, including
portfolios, resumes, letters, business cards, and advertising. I used to keep a copy of a client's content and also burn
a copy for them, so there were multiples of the same data. Today, that is not the case. Today, there is an overwhelming
amount of data, so the industry invented "The Cloud". So who is to say that when I go back to access my data in a year
or ten, I will still be able to access it? Will the software still be able to recognize the data format or content?
The backups, which were first done on floppy, back in the day, were done on CD Rom and then DVD for more data storage.
Nowadays, most devices can't read DVD or CD and everything has become wireless, which is good in theory, however,
on has to have "hookup" (service) to access it. The whole damn idea even depends on a plug outlet with electricity.
So, no ticky, no laundry...
Multiply this oversight, by the millions of blogs and social network service profiles out there. We are each responsible for
our own content, however, what do we do if a server fails and the data is lost? Where can we back up the content? Companies
who specialize in this charge us fees to maintain our data. It gets very costly, just to tread water anymore. Also, there is
no guarantee that tomorrow's browser will recognize older content. Or still read Java or PHP or MOV or WAV, let alone a robust text
file with font styles, and spacing and layout depending on which platform it will be displayed, horzontal (landscape) computer screens,
vertical (portrait) smartphone, or flip pads which can accommodate both?
So, now on the other side of the spectrum of digital technology, online usage. Provided I can afford a hookup, or the cost of a coffee to use the wifi at a coffeehouse, which is limited, I have used LJ for over 14 years. Prior to that I had an LJ that was posting on another friends paid feed, but he committed suicide and I ended up losing much of my carefully crafted content. I didn't know how to backup remote content back then or that it was even possible, except for the Word and other backup documents I had from creating it. Wordpress was most like MS Word, LJ was a unique hybrid allowing rich media such as image and video imbedding. If you don't have a paid account, again cost of access, you are limited to the number of images you can post. I have lost feed on photo services and now both Flickr and Pinterst are changing their policies to monetized commercial activities for businesses. So I lose content as things progress. Blogspot is a dinosaur of the past, not much supported by Google anymore. It was good while it lasted. Angelfire and Geocities were the go to initially, but both went under. FB is buried in mediocrity and has a lousy, but getting better for business, search engine. I tried Dreamwidth, but it was shit. Wordpress annoys me like Microsoft. LJ is still pretty much it. I am happy for all my friends here on LJ.
We pay $1200 a year just for internet connection. Forget the content. We paid for a device, computer or other, apps or software to create content on them, or fees for services for social networking and or content repository, cloud, photo service banks, Youtube, and on anon! Probably $2500 a year just to stay outfitted. Never mind the time we spend creating, maintaining and propagating the world wide web. We are the Borg. We are AI. We are Big Brother, we are the Eye, TV or Evil. What are we? Are we insane?
So, where am I going with all this? Recently Microsoft decided to change affiliation with Mac and require owners to pay annual fees. Jesus!
Really? Fuck me. So now I am on fixed income disability. I can no longer afford the long stretches of cost on digital technology. I have what
I have -- 6 old computers with working software that are all fucked up in need of RAM or browser updates, or platform changes or software versions.
I have decades of poetry stored on Word and Text Edit. The Mac alternative is Pages, which can read the text, but not necessarily the macro style content.
I may have to open each file from Word into Pages and resave to access. I could use Microsoft, but that is so limited in its art applications. Especially to
include images with the text or links, etc. I probably should have used PDF for all this to begin with, but then I would have to pay Adobe $125USD per month
just to use it. What a fucking hijack. I hate this world.
I have tons of images sorted and categorized for reference as well as saved web content for reference, that is no longer accessible online, because of this very issue. Compatibility. Even the internet archive can't hold all the data in all the files in all the original content. It works mostly for text files, but for media, the world is become too complex.
This means that without paying Microsoft every year for their update, I will need to choose between Mac or Microsoft. I used to use Mac exclusively, which was able to read Microsoft documents, but not necessarily the other way around. Whereas Mac was able to translate most formats into readable content, Microsoft doesn't give a fuck about anything that is not Microsoft. So the workaround still has to be open the piece of crap Microsoft to make it readable and save it again in Mac. Although then I am always stuck in Macland, which isn't as widely used in the industry. I can be resurrected, at a cost. It's all about money these days. So, damned if I do and damned if I don't.
dr. π (pi)
.
and song activities with arts and crafts, I recall software being what was called "backwards compatible".
That meant that every update had to include the ability to recognize varied previous documents.
The other issue was readability between different software, requiring universal document formats,
such as 'jpeg' or 'giff' for images and 'txt' or 'doc' for text, etc. That was then compounded by the ability
of computers to read between systems. Not just Apple, Compaq and Microsoft, but all systems, which
in today's technology, means all apps and devices, cellphones, iPads, computers, etc. This was known as
"cross-platform". We used both Mac and Microsoft platforms which were able to run dynamic media, sound files
as well as video and slideshows, with interactive content. These were language lessons. One needed to be able
to learn and study from them. We were constantly testing content on both platforms, across 3 main browsers
to insure they would were viewable. Computer screens all varied in size back then, so there became a code
which would manage that by percentage, not absolute measure, to allow a display to fit document to size.
I remember software updates, which caused us to have to open documents in another software, to capture the
content and then resave them for continued access.
It pisses me off to no end that 25 years later, MS Word is the centre of the universe, and all other forms of text
must comply with them. It may or may not recognize images embedded in them, depending on macros written into their
program. Software programs are now called apps. The other format that has become universal is PDF from Adobe, which
can embody both image and text and keep them uniform, although not editable, since that format was meant to be a used
for a set legal document and even locked by password to authenticate it. Apps become as proprietary as the devices on
which they exist. For instance, iPhone, Android, Microsoft, Mac, etc. Even within Mac or Microsoft themselves, they
both have this problem of multiple platforms. Scaling a document for readability is an art, but computers only
treat it like digits. Are the bit and bytes there, yet not necessarily in that order?
That in itself might not be a problem, if I wasn't constantly being charged for everything. I used to buy a software
and then own it. Trouble was when it became outmoded, I was stuck with purchasing the "next generation" software
and upgraded hardware. This often meant memory increase requirement for more robust media such as sound and image.
Now we are charged annual fees for everything including 3rd party support software, because Microsoft didn't
finish the job and we need Anti-virus and cross-platform conversion, internet hookup, printer drivers, and on anon.
It has become one conglomerate entertainment industry, which monetizes usage on everything. Annual fees are the reality.
When was the last time you had to pay money to speak to someone. Maybe a psychiatrist? Ha-hah!
Over the past 25 years I have filled up 6 TB-hard-drives with data from art projects and business activities, including
portfolios, resumes, letters, business cards, and advertising. I used to keep a copy of a client's content and also burn
a copy for them, so there were multiples of the same data. Today, that is not the case. Today, there is an overwhelming
amount of data, so the industry invented "The Cloud". So who is to say that when I go back to access my data in a year
or ten, I will still be able to access it? Will the software still be able to recognize the data format or content?
The backups, which were first done on floppy, back in the day, were done on CD Rom and then DVD for more data storage.
Nowadays, most devices can't read DVD or CD and everything has become wireless, which is good in theory, however,
on has to have "hookup" (service) to access it. The whole damn idea even depends on a plug outlet with electricity.
So, no ticky, no laundry...
Multiply this oversight, by the millions of blogs and social network service profiles out there. We are each responsible for
our own content, however, what do we do if a server fails and the data is lost? Where can we back up the content? Companies
who specialize in this charge us fees to maintain our data. It gets very costly, just to tread water anymore. Also, there is
no guarantee that tomorrow's browser will recognize older content. Or still read Java or PHP or MOV or WAV, let alone a robust text
file with font styles, and spacing and layout depending on which platform it will be displayed, horzontal (landscape) computer screens,
vertical (portrait) smartphone, or flip pads which can accommodate both?
So, now on the other side of the spectrum of digital technology, online usage. Provided I can afford a hookup, or the cost of a coffee to use the wifi at a coffeehouse, which is limited, I have used LJ for over 14 years. Prior to that I had an LJ that was posting on another friends paid feed, but he committed suicide and I ended up losing much of my carefully crafted content. I didn't know how to backup remote content back then or that it was even possible, except for the Word and other backup documents I had from creating it. Wordpress was most like MS Word, LJ was a unique hybrid allowing rich media such as image and video imbedding. If you don't have a paid account, again cost of access, you are limited to the number of images you can post. I have lost feed on photo services and now both Flickr and Pinterst are changing their policies to monetized commercial activities for businesses. So I lose content as things progress. Blogspot is a dinosaur of the past, not much supported by Google anymore. It was good while it lasted. Angelfire and Geocities were the go to initially, but both went under. FB is buried in mediocrity and has a lousy, but getting better for business, search engine. I tried Dreamwidth, but it was shit. Wordpress annoys me like Microsoft. LJ is still pretty much it. I am happy for all my friends here on LJ.
We pay $1200 a year just for internet connection. Forget the content. We paid for a device, computer or other, apps or software to create content on them, or fees for services for social networking and or content repository, cloud, photo service banks, Youtube, and on anon! Probably $2500 a year just to stay outfitted. Never mind the time we spend creating, maintaining and propagating the world wide web. We are the Borg. We are AI. We are Big Brother, we are the Eye, TV or Evil. What are we? Are we insane?
So, where am I going with all this? Recently Microsoft decided to change affiliation with Mac and require owners to pay annual fees. Jesus!
Really? Fuck me. So now I am on fixed income disability. I can no longer afford the long stretches of cost on digital technology. I have what
I have -- 6 old computers with working software that are all fucked up in need of RAM or browser updates, or platform changes or software versions.
I have decades of poetry stored on Word and Text Edit. The Mac alternative is Pages, which can read the text, but not necessarily the macro style content.
I may have to open each file from Word into Pages and resave to access. I could use Microsoft, but that is so limited in its art applications. Especially to
include images with the text or links, etc. I probably should have used PDF for all this to begin with, but then I would have to pay Adobe $125USD per month
just to use it. What a fucking hijack. I hate this world.
I have tons of images sorted and categorized for reference as well as saved web content for reference, that is no longer accessible online, because of this very issue. Compatibility. Even the internet archive can't hold all the data in all the files in all the original content. It works mostly for text files, but for media, the world is become too complex.
This means that without paying Microsoft every year for their update, I will need to choose between Mac or Microsoft. I used to use Mac exclusively, which was able to read Microsoft documents, but not necessarily the other way around. Whereas Mac was able to translate most formats into readable content, Microsoft doesn't give a fuck about anything that is not Microsoft. So the workaround still has to be open the piece of crap Microsoft to make it readable and save it again in Mac. Although then I am always stuck in Macland, which isn't as widely used in the industry. I can be resurrected, at a cost. It's all about money these days. So, damned if I do and damned if I don't.
dr. π (pi)
.