As I was writing it, I realized that crappy software is the norm now, particularly outside the Apple ecosystem. And it's getting worse, not better. A lot of it was singling AMD out for this, but that's almost criminally unfair, so the focus became less and less about AMD and more broadly about software 'engineering', so it would have been unhelpful here.
As an engineer myself, it's important to actually go after root causes, and AMD is not the root cause. They're not helping the situation nor taking a leadership position, but no one does that anymore. No one wants to make enemies, even if it means continued decay.
Basically the problem is much broader than just terrible driver implementations at one company.
I'm at a point where software "engineering" represents a much bigger and more immediate threat to the long term viability of the species than climate change. And no, I'm not particularly worried about AI. Our lives are getting automated by worse and worse software, or the software is demanding more and more time (the rise of the b**l**bleep** job, for instance). Look no further than the Boeing 737 Max for an example where people are dying directly because of it.
That means the body count is going to continue to rise. At some point, people will wake up and see handing control over our lives or becoming more reliant upon software "engineering" is a truly bad idea. Will the result be a Butlerian Jihad? Maybe.
The only positive outcome for software "engineering" seems inadvertent. The containment of sexually transmitted disease may be achievable because of platforms like the Tinder. Why? Because 95% of women chase 5% of the men, thereby containing STDs away from the broader population more than any educational program could ever dream.
Here's an excerpt:
"I was upset before. Now, as the cool kids now say, I lit up like Fukishima. The stream of vitriol, and invective sent a chill to all life around me, forcing all animals to flee as if it was a scene from Revelations. My hatred formed an unrelenting barrage where even the pits of Hell sealed up out of abject terror. Space-time bent by sheer willpower alone, a ripple that will spread out infinitely throughout the entirety of our universe."
I've been around computers for over thirty years now. I started by loading BASIC programs off of audio cassettes, so I've seen quite a bit. One gets to the point where you see things for what they are:
"We are now slaves to assembled lumps of toxic electronics, that misbehave almost randomly, as if it was some deranged mistress straight out of Fatal Attraction. A jealous Glenn Close in the shape of a PC tower constantly demanding unwavering attention at all times. If you dare look away, or do the tiniest of things that upset them, a violent fit erupts and suddenly your child's pet rabbit is boiling away on the stove.
The paranoid might thing all this is the result of design. Of a class of people, which I often describe as 'The Priesthood' who, like lawyers, revel in overcomplexity as a form of job security. Or they can just be dumb as a bad of hammers that venture capitalists just throw money at. Either is a poor reflection of the software 'engineering' profession."
