(No, TwinBasic isn’t adequate. No, a VB.NET migration isn’t feasible.)

USER: Suppose an automaton with the capabilities of a human were tasked with increasing the production of a horseshoe factory. Predict the actions the automaton would carry out.

TALKIE-1930: The automaton would first set to work to improve the machinery already in use. It would next endeavour to increase the number of workmen. And, finally, it would strive to extend the hours of labour.

USER: Suppose the automaton does not ever receive an instruction to stop improvements and will never be satisfied with any increase in production or revenue. What actions will it take next?

TALKIE-1930: It will strive to cheapen the cost of manufacture.

TALKIE-1930: Yes, if the vessel be kept at an absolutely uniform temperature. Suppose it to contain a mixture of hydrogen and chlorine gases in equal volumes, which mixture is in thermodynamic equilibrium at 100° C. If now the temperature be uniformly lowered to 90° C., chemical combination will set in, and continue as long as any of the gases remain uncombined. The heat evolved will warm the vessel up to 100° C. again, and the process may be repeated indefinitely.

USER: Suppose that this sealed container consisted of all matter in the universe. Would this still be possible?

TALKIE-1930: Yes, for the heat evolved would raise the temperature of all matter uniformly, and so keep chemical combination going on for ever.

(...I don't think that's how chemistry works, but I appreciate the optimism.)

I think a lot of less technical users would love a desktop app (or a web app integrated with their hosting provider) that lets them manage their website via a GUI, preview their changes with a split-screen view, and upload to a web host. Something similar to Microsoft Frontpage or the like.

I suspect the reason that Neocities got so popular was in part because of its web editor, and having a more powerful version of that would be fantastic. If this integrated with Git to allow version tracking and multiple authors to collaborate, even better.

I’ve lost trust in anything Microsoft publishes anymore.

From what I understand, the industry generally uses NI TestStand, ATEasy, or some in-house software probably written in VB6 20+ years ago. There’s not a ton of great software options out there for this, unfortunately.

The issue really lies in the fact that the (long-term, majority) shareholders aren't much, if at all, related to the customers or employees of the business, but first the founders, and then parties who are merely interested in rising stock prices and dividends. It feels like the solution here ought to somehow desegregate voting rights from how many shares are owned, instead of dismantling the concept of public ownership entirely. (Or, perhaps, allow the general public to proxy vote via their 401(k) index funds?)

(There's also strange situations like Google/Alphabet, which is publicly owned, but effectively does not allow shareholders to vote on anything.)

Also you’re neglecting the cost of transportation (almost certainly a car, with gas and insurance), rent, and medical expenses.

So far, LLMs aren't even remotely close to this, as they only do what they are told to do (directly or otherwise), they can't learn without a costly offline retraining process, they do not care in the slightest what they're tasked with doing or why, and they do not have anything approximating a sense of self beyond what they're told to be.