Our hardware now is so much more complex, what has it gained us? The quick answer is performance, but is it true? What about correctness? Hard to prove either way, but my guess is we've gained a little bit on performance and lost on correctness.
There are more parts of the computer (again, both hardware and software) that are undocumented. Taken as a whole, the system is more capable, but closed hardware and software makes me wonder about capabilities in my computer that serve someone that isn't me.
In 1989, we'd've also been looking at code running on a single core with a single-task or cooperative-multitasking OS (for most home computers, anyhow), with simpler hardware that an individual could completely understand, and it would run at a speed where analyzing a second of output wouldn't be completely beyond the pale.
I've analyzed CPU logs from DOS-era programs and NES games. I certainly haven't analyzed a full second of the code's execution; I'm usually focused on understanding some particular set of operations.
Niantic created a game that incentives people to go to anywhere in the world and get Pokemon. They don't have to go to this beach, and if it's trespassing then it's still an illegal action. Very similar to driving while texting. Is that the driver's fault or the phones fault? What if the phone company could stop alerts if the phone is going over 60 mph?
My spin is Why should Niantic subsidize the players poor choices? Or why should Niantic subsidize the government more than it already does through tax revenue?
In this case, if I were running Niantic, I would remove the game from the country in question. My game is the way it is, if it is illegal to operate in your country that is perfectly fine. Let me know and I'll go somewhere else. That is all assuming one big thing, I can afford to be harsh about this. If so (which Niantic can) then that is probably what I'd do. It's perfectly fine for you to make laws that don't enable games like PokemonGo, and a verdict against Niantic could be interpreted like that. How could I know that I wouldn't be sued again in that country?
Of course Niantic will just black out this beach and problem solved, but hey that's what I'd do.
Edit: I appreciated your answer and perspective though. I just wanted to say thanks for the well thought out reply.
Niantic's algorithms are sending people around in a pattern that is causing damage. Since they've been made aware of that, and it's difficult to blame the individual players, it's reasonable to ask the company itself to make a change. Niantic's the only one in a position to solve the problem quickly and cheaply.
What you can do with a couple MHz and a few hundred KB of memory is great, given a little ingenuity. Of course, you aren't going to do real-time face recognition on something like that, but 99% of what we need to do is just fine with 0.1% of the performance.
Like me: I could talk about starting with almost nothing in my bank accounts, getting a job, working through the ranks, buying a home, and working toward my first million... conveniently leaving out all the advantages that I've had to get me to this point (cultural expectation that I'd go to college instilled in me from a young age, a family well-off enough to support that financially, uninterrupted time to work on the hobbies that grew into a career, etc).
Quanticle seems to be relating the origins of Donald Trump and Bill Gates. Donald describes his fortune as self-made. Bill Gates has been described as self-made. It's true, if you only consider that their wealth is much greater than any gift they've ever received. It's false from the perspective that anyone could do it with enough hard work.
> Intel didn't force this upon the consumers
is wrong. I know that vendors producing servers want that Intel ME (because otherwise remote servicing servers would be much harder), but they surely did not require from Intel that Intel ME cannot be disabled.
> Intel didn't force [Intel TXT & UEFI Secure Boot] upon the consumers
is true. Both of those things can be disabled on most hardware. In fact, I disabled them on the laptop the I just bought, because I wanted to install OSes that aren't SecureBoot signed.
I've seen pair teams working correctly, though. Each of them bounces ideas off the other one, and they progress faster than either would've alone. It's like racing two algorithms against each other, each searching a different part of the problem space, and using the first result that's returned. It lets them move on to the next problem quicker.
I don't usually do that very well, but I can't deny that if you've got the right pair of developers, it's a very powerful technique.