

JWZ ports xdaliclock to Palm WebOS by rewriting it in Javascript - tptacek
http://jwz.livejournal.com/1057786.html

======
sammyo
I was always disappointed with daliclock,I remember a distinct image in my
mind the first time I'd read the name of an old fashioned pocket watch that
draped over any particular window on the desktop, like in a Dali painting.
Hmm, project.

------
Create
The Alto version never took off, exactly because there were no "wasted"
instructions for the purpose of vendor lock in or irreplicable platform
insurance. Once you add some layers of instructions, frameworks, toolkits and
outright cruft (notably DRM) it sells like hotcakes, only because of Market
dynamics (which have very little to do with the product itself).

It is in no vendor's genuine interest to let people know how a computer truly
works: just to indoctrinate on partial, select areas.

------
pmarin
Anyone know which algorithm is used in the digits?

------
albertcardona
"Let's take a moment to ponder this version and the Alto version, and just how
many wasted instructions, layers of abstraction, frameworks, toolkits and
outright cruft have gotten between the algorithm and the frame buffer in the
intervening twenty-seven years. This program makes my phone hot. Hot, I tell
you."

There is a great comment in there in need of a few minutes of silence out of
respect: for the world that has changed, and for those who still know how a
computer really works, all the way to the transistors.

~~~
nailer
I think JWZ's talking about unnecessary abstraction layers, and re-written
wheels created by technology fetishists and bad designers, rather than
lamenting the lack of knowledge required to make useful things in modern OSs.

~~~
access_denied
Yes, but which abstraction layer in the WebOS is unnecessary? I think I
disagree with JWZ on this one. Is it really better to have for instance all
the formating capabilities of CSS built into the Desktop-OS' native widget
set? Than you would have to coordinate your OS development with the
development of the CSS specifications.

~~~
nailer
Rather than having one specification for layer in web apps, and another for
local apps (eg, iPhone or Android), there's a single layer. It's very DRY.

