Why Computer History Matters
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." -Sir Isaac Newton (1675).
It's amazing how true the statement is to this day, and perhaps more so now than ever. A good understanding of where you're heading starts with an understanding of where you've been. We live in an exciting time technologically speaking. We have more computing power on our smart phone today than the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) had to be able to land astronauts on the Moon in the late 1960's. We have 3D games we can play on small devices at high resolution. We can go just about anywhere in the world and have some sort of geolocation data to navigate places we've never even heard of. We are straight up spoiled. In fact technology is so ubiquitous that there's a healthy number of people that regularly complain about it, myself included. It's never quite fast enough, reliable enough, creative enough and so on. We take for granted so many privileges we have that didn't exist just a few decades ago. What can help us with the never-ending spirit of discontent? Simply this, take time to stop and enjoy the view from time to time.
Here is where computer history comes into play. Why should I care about the first mainframe computers? Does it matter how they worked and the constraints they had? Yes, because despite their limitations they were solving real problems for their time. Because it's not just fascinating but it engenders the healthy quality of gratitude for where we are now. Sidenote, mainframes still exist. In fact any work or business happening in the financial sector is probably being handled by a mainframe. Here's some reasons why I believe computer history still matters to this day.
1. It Teaches Why Things Are The Way They Are
Many of the tools and languages that exist today were not random. They solved real problems at particular times. Why is SQL structured the way it is? Because it was designed at a time when storage was scarce and precious. It needed to be both consistent and reliable. Why was the Unix philosophy basically "do one thing well"? Because at that time machines were comparatively weak by today's standards. Simplicity wasn't aesthetic, it was survival. Practical application: knowing the "why" helps you to accept design tradeoffs instead of thinking the engineers of the past were imbeciles.
2. It Builds Problem Solving Humility
Early engineers built moon landers, global networks, and operating systems with hardware comparable to a cheap calculator. How'd they do it? They engineered carefully, they thought defensively, and they optimized not from a place of privilege but because they had to. Practical application: constraints don't stop innovation but rather they sharpen it.
3. It Protects You From Panic and Hype Cycles
Technology moves in cycles. Centralized, decentralized, centralized again. Thick clients, thin clients, thick again. Monoliths, microservices, modular monoliths. When you recognize the patterns you don't get caught up in: "This is the future forever". "Everything prior is now obsolete". Instead of the extreme viewpoints you learn that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. When Grace Hopper created the first compiler did other engineers fear that now because they weren't needed to read machine language their role would be obsolete? If they did they eventually realized that it really just freed them up to focus on more interesting problems to solve. Practical application: seeing the cycles helps you stay more grounded in ever changing landscapes.
4. It Makes You a Better Architect, Not Just a Coder
History continues to show what scales and what repeatedly fails. It proves why typing disciplines matter. Why simplicity usually wins long term and why backwards compatibility is important. Practical application: Good engineering is mostly pattern recognition. The more history you know the more data you have to pattern match.
5. It Gives Perspective When Tech Feels Overwhelming
When you feel like things are moving too fast history reminds you that progress is usually iterative. Breakthroughs come after slow build-ups. Also many engineers before us also felt "behind". Practical application: Perspective takes a little pressure off your shoulders.
Finally
Computer History tends to make you wiser, calmer, and more intentional in how you build. And it might end up keeping you from reinventing a worse version of something that already exists. Mostly ingratitude.
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