Power Off
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I remember when the first Mac came out, in that goofy shape, and its mouse and no instruction manual. Or a very thin one. The idea was that it was simple enough to figure out that you did not need a whole shelf full of impenetrable books to make it work.
One particular innovation that I remember was the way the power off button worked. It didn't shut down immediately—the computer presumably saved files and made sure that everything was right before actually powering off.
So it isn't really a power off button—it is a "Power Off Request Button" or a "Power Off Please" button. This is a good thing.
This isn't restricted to Macs these days. Many computers have a "Power Off" key on the keyboard which works the same way. The clock radio that sits in our bedroom has lights that are on after you hit the power off button. And, in a highly annoying fashion, it will turn it self on hours after you hit that button.
Sometimes the computer can't quite save the files, though, and it is still running minutes after you hit the button. Not that it thinks it is in charge, but something won't quite save, or it is waiting for some mysterious internal event that hasn't happened yet.
So who is really in charge here? Will the cars now decide not to turn left when you would like to? Or the refrigerator decide not to open after a certain hour?