For story purposes, can someone build their own smartphone, computers, and OS from scratch?

Finger, mouse, trackball, VR... it's all still point-n-click.

 

Ah! Okay, I see what you're saying. And here's me one of the biggest fans of VR, especially on my phone. I discounted it mainly because it hasn't been developed to a universally useful level. yet. I'm thinking of poor Barry Kripke.

And to build a computer, then write an OS and to layer VR/gesture on top of it just puts it ten-to-a-hundred times further out of reach for a single person working on their own.

 

Actually, starting with the NT lineage, it has been freed from DOS altogether and is now a full-fledged OS. For most people, that was Windows XP. They can run DOS applications with a kind of virtual machine, though.

 

It even goes to ME, doesn't it? Although for me Windows ME was a buggy piece of crap.

 

ME was based on MS-DOS.

 

OP, unless it's a large secret, I really think that the only way you'll get a definite answer is to give more details.

 

Ah, OK. I thought that was where they got rid of that. In any event, XP was a big improvement, but I moved largely to Linux during the XP era, which I liked much better.

 

If my dad can do it on just an elementary school education and life smarts then I'm sure anyone can. My dad used to rebuild pc's from the bottom up utilizing parts from broken ones, but more often than not he could turn 5 broken pcs into 4 whole ones and some spare parts. My cousin made a pc and programmed it himself too. If you have the knowledge it's possible. As this is for a story I fail to see why it shouldn't be possible unless it takes place in a time and or world where the needed tech isn't available. So long as the computer exists someone who knows programming can build their own OS from the ground up. All it needs is knowledge of these programs and how they work and basic programming knowledge. If my 15 year old cousin can program a pc to be functional then I'm sure your character can so long as the technology and knowledge exist in the world of your story.

 

And once again it becomes obvious that inquiring minds won't believe the truth if there's enough disinformation masking it. I'm out.

 

Building, yes. Programming an OS from nothing...no, not as easy as you're making it out. From what I understand, you've got to know at least a low-level language (assembly) and how it works. It's not what most people think of when you talk about programming. I know people who have created an OS as well, but they were all building off an existing kernel.

Doing it all from nothing clearly isn't impossible, but I wouldn't present it as an easy task if your starting point is zero.

 

Yes, but these people are generally starting with the most fundamental aspects already done. With Linux, for example, they're usually building off another district, and they all use a kernel that was already created for them.

 

But he had computer parts. It sounds like the question is whether you can make a computer without any computer parts. But I'm still not entirely clear on that point.

Edited to add:

@pensmighterthanthesword, can you clarify that point?

If the question is whether you can go into a room that contains many trashed computers and assemble a working one from the various parts, yes, certainly you can.

If the question is whether you can be marooned on an empty technology-free planet with nothing but a spade and a penknife and come up with a computer within your lifetime, the answer is no, certainly you cannot.

Can you clarify what the situation is?

 

Not necessarily. If the only language the programmer knows is Java, for example, then that person is probably out of luck. At this point you get into experimental computer science.

 

My boyfriend works in software, this is the gist of what he said.

-For a PC, the answer depends strongly on what you mean by 'from scratch'. It is easy to build a custom PC with off-the-shelf parts, though you might need to do your homework to make sure that it's powered and working well. However, he is strongly sceptical that someone could build the circuit boards from the components.
-In regards to the OS, it's possible, but you're not likely to make anything fancy without years of work.
-In regards to the smart phone, very doubtful at best. The radios used by mobile phones are what IMEI numbers are assigned to and obtaining them as opposed to an entire phone requires a licence. IMEI numbers are internationally policed and it's against the law to change it.

It has been my experience that those who design hardware are not software engineers and vice-versa. My parents spent the majority of their careers in the development of circuit boards, but they are very much end users when it comes to software.

 

Eh no I meant actual programming knowledge of how to build an OS. And yes I meant if the parts exist in your universe they can. Not from absolutely nothing without any of the required machinery to make the parts at least. And I never said it was easy. My nephew now going on 17 studied programming for 3 years before building his first computer with programmings. As I said as long as the parts and the knowledge exist in the world there is no reason a character couldn't teach themselves these things. Also the first computer and OS were made starting from nothing. There wasn't a book back then to tell them how. That's why they call it inventing after all. To Quote my friend you won't know if it is impossibly until you try it. Everything started from scratch. Every new invention has to begin somewhere before it can be improved upon. I could easily see a character in say the fallout universe find the parts and books needed to learn to build their own computer and program it. No it won't ever be easy, but that wasn't the question or my implication. The question and what I meant to say is whether it is possible and yes that it certainly is if the technology and knowledge exist or if you intend for them to at some point come to exist.

 

Not really. They were a step from existing technology. And they certainly didn't look like today's computers. Imagine collections of vacuum tubes the size of a large building.

That was a step from what came before. And then a step after that, and on and on and on.

Would you say that the first car was made "starting from nothing", ignoring the history of wheeled vehicles before it and changes in cars after it, and expect someone to come up with, say, a 2017 BMW "from nothing"?

Edited to add:

Essentially nothing started from scratch. Everything is a little step from what came before.

 

I know what you meant. You're still wrong. No single person or even a small group of people could live long enough to acquire the resources and educate themselves from scratch enough to build a smartphone and OS. Your nephew started out with resources that he did not create from scratch.

Unless "from scratch" means having a programmable computer, as your nephew started out with, and all the books and knowledge at hand. In that case, the "from scratch" part would describe what already exists and everyone is thus starting from scratch. Which makes this whole discussion pointless.

 

I'd have to dispute the allusion here.

Computers did not come from nothing, they evolved from mathematical theory over decades, maybe even centuries and hundreds of minds contributing to it. Even the touch of a key in a keyboard has (and according to my bf, this is no exaggeration) hundreds of layers and it's safe to say a single human being couldn't possibly build something from that low a level.

 

Assuming this is the modern world then the answer is "Only if they have the equipment", equipment to solder wires together, to bend metal or mold plastic, you'd also need a lot of knowledge in how to program things. You could theoretically create a phone, computer, and OS from scratch but you would need a lot of knowledge and all the right tools.

 

I still want to know what everybody's definition of "from scratch" is.

Do they have access to, say, Fry's, complete with preexisting phones, computers, chips, etc., and they're just taking computers and phones apart and creating a sort of FrankenDevice--like moving the existing engine and wheels from a Volkswagon body to an existing Volvo body? That's fairly plausible. But I don't feel that that's what people mean.

 

It's better to start with what it takes to make these things right now, then work backwards. In the end it doesn't really matter what "from scratch" really means, the question is how much work goes into a phone, computer and operating system.

Remember, all these things are built "from scratch" at some point. But by very large teams of a very large period of time. And that makes it a practical impossibility for one person. The more "from scratch" we are talking about the more prohibitive it becomes but even assuming someone has a bench full of chips and circuit boards and is told to go make a working computer or phone that's just too much work for one person, even an increadibly gifted person. Even just handing someone the blueprints for an existing device and a print out of it's software to copy the code from, even that would be an almost insurmountable challenge.

But that's not quite the end of it.

A very dedicated person could certainly make their own spin on Android and Linux, using much of their base code and just changing the things that they specifically want to change. People already do this, and while big projects individual people absolutely DO do this kind of stuff. A narratively skilled engineer could reasonably do that; customize almost everything within a phone or computer operating system to their purpose without having to write the whole thing. They could potentially even create some cool bespoke add-in cards for the PC or interesting peripherals for their phone if they really sunk the time into it; most things these days are built to be extensible in that way.

 

I assume 'from scratch' means from the base materials like plastics and metals and wires, etc.