I'm not opposed to x86 or x86-64 getting superceded by ARM or the like, but I do have a major concern that the end of x86-64 will be the end of the open PC.
We all have lots of ARM devices, and for the most part none of them are open like a PC. You can't boot off of a standard USB stick to start up some thing, because for the most part there is no real bootable standard, because none of these devices are standard. They're each their own proprietary thing, and often they're running their own proprietary software. You make a different sort of media for each one, often running a different sort of OS.
Contrast the open PC, where you can use the same USB memory stick to install the same OS on pretty much every PC, give or take a couple device drivers.
If we lose that openness, I don't think we'd get it back anytime soon. Potentially every laptop becomes a semi-proprietary ecosystem.
We all have lots of ARM devices, and for the most part none of them are open like a PC. You can't boot off of a standard USB stick to start up some thing, because for the most part there is no real bootable standard, because none of these devices are standard. They're each their own proprietary thing, and often they're running their own proprietary software. You make a different sort of media for each one, often running a different sort of OS.
Contrast the open PC, where you can use the same USB memory stick to install the same OS on pretty much every PC, give or take a couple device drivers.
If we lose that openness, I don't think we'd get it back anytime soon. Potentially every laptop becomes a semi-proprietary ecosystem.
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