All programmers and developers should be forced to develop on a 200Mhz Pentium computer with 32MB of ram. This would keep their applications, trimmed-down, sleek, fast, and remove any need for huge memory/cpu hogs like java, python, perl, javascript, etc … C programming is still a very good option for programming and can do fantastic things with a 200Mhz processor and 32MB of ram. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge perl fan and I’m currently trying to learn python, but my 1.6 Ghz work machine sometimes comes to a screeching halt when by browser is thinking about something (javascript or other). I hate that! I have a 200Mhz machine at home and can install linux on it and as long as I’m not doing anything browser-related or starting up anything too huge, 200Mhz is totally enough horsepower for getting most tasks done (email, any OS-type programs, ssh somewhere, download files, listen to audio, …). Forcing developers to work on under-powered, under-sized computers will magically produce faster, smaller, tighter programs that run cleanly on anyone’s PC. The problem with MS Vista, massive games and other huge applications and unnecessary upgrades is that the programmers are given the top of the line computers to develop on. Long-gone is the day that a game comes in a 100k, 5-second download, but they’re still possible. Why not? Because they don’t have to. Many of my friends long for the days of the old Zork games or 8-bit or 16-bit games - why aren’t small programs like that still getting made? They’re fun!

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