[ReadyNow]

It always seems to me that evolution is like moving from version 9.0 to version 9.1 of a complicated piece of software. It definitely happens, and 9.0 definitely eventually dies out and is replaced by 9.1.

But it doesn't say anything about where version 1.0 came from.

[Fatalis]

But it doesn't say anything about where version 1.0 came from.

Microsoft stole it from Apple who stole it from Xerox. Xerox didn't copy it from anyone.

[js1138]

But it doesn't say anything about where version 1.0 came from.

I've been involved in a number of version 1.0 software projects. It come from paper and pencil methods. Or from a competing product.

[_Jim]

It ... seems to me that evolution is like moving from version 9.0 to version 9.1 of a complicated piece of software. It definitely happens, and 9.0 definitely eventually dies out and is replaced by 9.1.

But it doesn't say anything about where version 1.0 came from.

Sounds like a reasonable, present-day analogy most non-hardware-aware techoids can grasp.

How about 'the maker' sharing building blocks (C++ inheritance from a base class via genes/genetics too) across species as well?

Now, add in a billion, two billion, xx billion years - what might you have in geographically isolated areas on the surface of the earth and her seas?

[70times7]

It always seems to me that evolution is like moving from version 9.0 to version 9.1 of a complicated piece of software. It definitely happens, and 9.0 definitely eventually dies out and is replaced by 9.1. But it doesn't say anything about where version 1.0 came from.

Great anology - I love it when my software rewrites itself. My computer is reinventing itself and getting better all the time!