--- title: 1968 Predicted Every Modern Tech Problem | TheStandup link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbzLuAzhJ0c source: youtube-com-theprimetimeagen published: 2026-08-29T13:00:04Z updated: 2026-08-29T13:00:43Z first_seen: 2026-09-07T17:03:44.343711062Z authors: - The PrimeTime summary: |- [Sponsor] Linear helps teams track issues, manage projects, collaborate on docs, and ship products - and the crazy thing is their software is actually fast and a joy to use. Learn more: https://trm.sh/linear Full Episode Youtube: https://youtu.be/WyKKxPoSTCc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ZkmJ2Ex5M3KDWy2TeG1OA [Description] In this episode of The Standup, Casey Muratori joins us to look at the fascinating parallels between 1968 tech and today. We examine the original context of "premature optimization is the root of all evil" and flip through the pages of Datamation from over 50 years ago. It’s a wild trip through early ray tracing, the birth of firmware, and the first mentions of virtual machines. [Chapters] 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:59 - The origin of Premature optimization is the root of all evil 00:07:30 - The effort involved in a long talk 00:13:16 - The Root of The Root of All Evil Presentation LITE Start 00:15:52 - Datamation Issues 00:18:23 - New 4k Display in 1968 00:18:51 - 1968 Comp Sci Salaries 00:19:18 - AI taking over the world since 1968 00:20:27 - The Cope .45 00:21:18 - 1968 Datamining Concerns 00:23:02 - 1968 SAAS 00:23:32 - Software patent bill 00:23:56 - Conway's law in print 00:26:03 - UEFI BIOS 00:27:06 - Virtual Machines 00:28:54 - THE END OF OS 00:29:55 - LBJ Stamped ASCII 00:31:55 - COBOL Ad 00:32:19 - Computers to win Elections 00:32:57 - AI Lawyers 00:33:38 - To Err Is Agentic 00:35:53 - Flock Cameras in 1968 00:37:48 - Dont eat in the computer room 00:38:10 - 1.5cents per bit 00:39:18 - A Hexadecimal Pronunciation Guide 00:41:23 - Privacy and Freedom 00:42:17 - How do you gruntle 00:43:13 - Computer Technology in communist China 00:43:44 - The First Raytraced Image 00:45:27 - The Root of The Root of All Evil Presentation LITE End 00:47:38 - Outro [Hosts/Guests] Prime: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/theprimeagen Teej: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/teej-dv Trash: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/trash Casey: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/cmuratori [Sources] Dax Fraud Tweet: https://x.com/thdxr/status/2092238606987370884 Stripes Fraud Pricing Update: https://support.stripe.com/questions/updates-to-radar-pricing-(january-2027)) Caseys BSC 2025 Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo84LFzx5nI Caseys BSC 2026 Talk: http://computerenhance.com/theroot (lots more sources here too) Programmer of the Month (Edsger Dijkstra) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnMnXsmxoHc [Partners] Linear: https://trm.sh/linear Sentry: https://trm.sh/sentry [Socials] x.com/thestanduppod instagram.com/thestanduppod tiktok.com/@thestanduppod facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573286173150 [Other Places to find us] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01A062kejnXFkJE01bjN5J RSS: thestanduppod.com/feed.xml Clips: @TheStandupPodClips Website: thestanduppod.com [Tags] ThePrimeagen, DHH, David Heinemeier Hansson, Omarchy, Omarchy Quattro, Linux, Linux desktop, year of Linux, Arch Linux, AI agents, AI coding, coding agents, software development, programming, developers, open source, Linux security, Hyprland, MacOS, Apple, Dell XPS, developer burnout, artificial intelligence, The Standup Podcast, Teej, Trash Dev, Sentry content: extracted html: 2026-08-29-1968-predicted-every-modern-tech-problem-thestandup.html preview: file: 2026-08-29-1968-predicted-every-modern-tech-problem-thestandup.preview-7af4a4759166.webp width: 256 height: 192 color: '#746c67' images: - source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gbzLuAzhJ0c/maxresdefault.jpg original: file: 2026-08-29-1968-predicted-every-modern-tech-problem-thestandup.image-e22e8f1db79f.jpg width: 1280 height: 720 variants: - file: 2026-08-29-1968-predicted-every-modern-tech-problem-thestandup.image-170be04691af.webp width: 48 height: 27 color: '#e4dad9' extra: thumbnail: https://i4.ytimg.com/vi/gbzLuAzhJ0c/hqdefault.jpg --- \[Sponsor\]\ Linear helps teams track issues, manage projects, collaborate on docs, and ship products - and the crazy thing is their software is actually fast and a joy to use. Learn more: https://trm.sh/linear Full Episode\ Youtube: https://youtu.be/WyKKxPoSTCc\ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ZkmJ2Ex5M3KDWy2TeG1OA \[Description\]\ In this episode of The Standup, Casey Muratori joins us to look at the fascinating parallels between 1968 tech and today. We examine the original context of "premature optimization is the root of all evil" and flip through the pages of Datamation from over 50 years ago. It’s a wild trip through early ray tracing, the birth of firmware, and the first mentions of virtual machines. \[Chapters\]\ 00:00:00 - Intro\ 00:02:59 - The origin of Premature optimization is the root of all evil\ 00:07:30 - The effort involved in a long talk\ 00:13:16 - The Root of The Root of All Evil Presentation LITE Start\ 00:15:52 - Datamation Issues\ 00:18:23 - New 4k Display in 1968\ 00:18:51 - 1968 Comp Sci Salaries\ 00:19:18 - AI taking over the world since 1968\ 00:20:27 - The Cope .45\ 00:21:18 - 1968 Datamining Concerns\ 00:23:02 - 1968 SAAS\ 00:23:32 - Software patent bill\ 00:23:56 - Conway's law in print\ 00:26:03 - UEFI BIOS\ 00:27:06 - Virtual Machines\ 00:28:54 - THE END OF OS\ 00:29:55 - LBJ Stamped ASCII\ 00:31:55 - COBOL Ad\ 00:32:19 - Computers to win Elections\ 00:32:57 - AI Lawyers\ 00:33:38 - To Err Is Agentic\ 00:35:53 - Flock Cameras in 1968\ 00:37:48 - Dont eat in the computer room\ 00:38:10 - 1.5cents per bit\ 00:39:18 - A Hexadecimal Pronunciation Guide\ 00:41:23 - Privacy and Freedom\ 00:42:17 - How do you gruntle\ 00:43:13 - Computer Technology in communist China\ 00:43:44 - The First Raytraced Image\ 00:45:27 - The Root of The Root of All Evil Presentation LITE End\ 00:47:38 - Outro \[Hosts/Guests\]\ Prime: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/theprimeagen\ Teej: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/teej-dv\ Trash: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/trash\ Casey: https://thestanduppod.com/contributor/cmuratori \[Sources\]\ Dax Fraud Tweet: https://x.com/thdxr/status/2092238606987370884\ Stripes Fraud Pricing Update: https://support.stripe.com/questions/updates-to-radar-pricing-(january-2027))\ Caseys BSC 2025 Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo84LFzx5nI\ Caseys BSC 2026 Talk: http://computerenhance.com/theroot (lots more sources here too)\ Programmer of the Month (Edsger Dijkstra) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnMnXsmxoHc \[Partners\]\ Linear: https://trm.sh/linear\ Sentry: https://trm.sh/sentry \[Socials\]\ x.com/thestanduppod\ instagram.com/thestanduppod\ tiktok.com/@thestanduppod\ facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573286173150 \[Other Places to find us\]\ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/01A062kejnXFkJE01bjN5J\ RSS: thestanduppod.com/feed.xml\ Clips: @TheStandupPodClips\ Website: thestanduppod.com \[Tags\]\ ThePrimeagen, DHH, David Heinemeier Hansson, Omarchy, Omarchy Quattro, Linux, Linux desktop, year of Linux, Arch Linux, AI agents, AI coding, coding agents, software development, programming, developers, open source, Linux security, Hyprland, MacOS, Apple, Dell XPS, developer burnout, artificial intelligence, The Standup Podcast, Teej, Trash Dev, Sentry