Yeah - and I mean that its not being driven by the hardware folks, but in fact is a cultural phenomenon derived from the academia world and industrial world having different gears.
Yes, hardware is progressing (though we've reached a few limits) at an amazing pace - and we've pushed technology into quite a lot of cracks and crevices in the last 40 years (at least, thats as long as I've been in the computer scene) .. but what I observe is that, every 3 - 6 years, there are cycles of entropy and creation which are a result of the endless churn of 1. Industry -> 2. Academia -> GOTO 1.
Today's Rubyist is tomorrow's Cobol'er. It goes on and on, and this is - in my opinion - a people thing. Not a hardware thing.
Yes, hardware is progressing (though we've reached a few limits) at an amazing pace - and we've pushed technology into quite a lot of cracks and crevices in the last 40 years (at least, thats as long as I've been in the computer scene) .. but what I observe is that, every 3 - 6 years, there are cycles of entropy and creation which are a result of the endless churn of 1. Industry -> 2. Academia -> GOTO 1.
Today's Rubyist is tomorrow's Cobol'er. It goes on and on, and this is - in my opinion - a people thing. Not a hardware thing.