The WIld West gives way to City Hall

One measure of civilization is the number of things that one does not have to worry about. In the real world, we can measure civilization by access to potable water, safe and plentiful food, and physical security.

In the days of the wild west, individuals staked out households and had to be self-sufficient. They had to get their own water, raise (or trade for) their food, build their own shelter, and defend their property. In some areas of the western US, people still live this way. Yet most people live in the city, where city hall provides a police force, runs a water distribution system, and major companies run stores to provide groceries.

Just as civilization advanced in the real world, civilization advances in the cyber world. Microcomputers (and PCs) have been, for the most part, equivalent to the wild west. A computer owner was responsible for the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of the computer. That included the initial purchase of the hardware (usually with an operating system bundled with the hardware), purchase of additional software (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.), and the maintenance of the hardware and configuration (virus-scanning software, floppy disk cleaning, and dusting).

Microsoft did not raise the level of civilization. They made it easier for people to administer systems (although some would debate that claim), but their efforts were equivalent to supplying guns to homesteaders. They provided tools but not civilization.

Apple has raised the level of civilization. The model for iPhones, iPods, and iPads is different from the "wild west" and rugged independence of PC owners. In the Apple model, it is not the owner who must worry about the operating system, security updates, or virus scan software. The owner leaves that to Apple, and simply uses their device.

I'm using the metaphor of city hall; some might view Apple more as Big Brother. Orwell's society may be a better fit for Apple's environment: City Hall is a democratic institution with replaceable leaders while Apple is more akin to a benevolent dictator.

The move from wild west to city hall is not without costs. One's options are limited: the Apple-run App Store has a finite selection of applications. One cannot create an app for one's own iPod; one must get approval from Apple and release the app through iTunes.

Yet the days of writing one's own application are long over. For most people, a computer or iPhone is a device to accomplish a goal, not a toy for tinkering. Those days were over shortly after IBM introduced the PC, and certainly ended by the time Windows became dominant. The effort to create an application rose beyond an individual's capabilities.

Or perhaps the effort was always higher than a typical individual's capabilities. Prior to the PC, computers were used primarily by hobbyists, folks who had the time and inclination to learn the programming of microcomputers. Once PCs become a commodity, the hobbyist became a minority in the sea of users.

Future historians will label the years from 1976 to 2008 as the "wild west" years, or perhaps use some other moniker, to identify a period of rugged individualism and self-reliance. Some will look back with nostalgia (just as we look upon the wild west with nostalgia) but they will forget the harsh conditions that accompanied the complete freedom (just as we have forgotten the difficult conditions of the true 18th century western expansion).

I'm glad to have lived during the golden age of PCs. I'm also happy to see the arrival of civilization (although I would prefer more City Hall and less Big Brother).