this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2026
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Computers are things you can personally own, most of the people on the planet own at least one, probably including one that fits in a pants pocket.
Steve Wozniak once proudly told his mother that some day, he'll have a computer of his very own. Richard Stallman, in his now famous usenet post announcing the beginning of GNU, says that "one manufacturer has already promised us a machine." So, Richard Stallman was working "In the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT", and even in that position there was a question as to where he was going to get a computer for his project. In 1983.
Ironically, we're circling back to renting a dummy terminal to access someone else's computer.
The irony is that phones are capable enough to do things, but they lack admin privileges despite being a device you own.
The combined computing power to run NASA and put men on the moon...now fits in my pants pocket
and yet since 1972 (IIUC) no one's walked the Moon again.