C'est la vie, as always.
People are saying that this is the end of CE assembly programming*, but as long as the calculator is around there will probably be some way to get the functionality back. Being a relatively simple device compared to something like the Nspire does significantly reduce its "attack surface" (for want of a better term) and it's likely we could run dry of ways to restore functionality at some point but I think the community will invariably find a way soon enough. TI isn't terribly wicked and evil like so many technology companies are. They kept arTIfice around long enough because the community made a promise that ultimately proved too difficult to uphold and they only did what they did to uphold their reputation, which is an understandable cause. As upsetting as this is, I can sympathize with the decision and I've seen that the CE community mostly shares this sentiment, which is a good thing and I'm sure they see that most of us have no ill intent. Unfortunately, one bad apple tends to spoil the whole bunch.
*Most likely what people say when they warn that this is likely the end of ASM is that even if a solution is discovered, it will more likely than not be significantly more difficult than arTIfice was or just the old versions that always let you run assembly programs from the outset. This will probably put a chokehold on new developers coming in once CEs running the new OS start to run out within the next couple years, which is a problem if the community wants to stay alive.
However, this is assembly we're talking about. Of course, knowing that there is a bustling community of programmers devoting themselves to experimenting with and programming the CE at a low-level is significantly hindered by
zero indication that this can be done on the calculator in the first place, but if young folks such as myself still come here after the de-assembly update and are still able to figure out how to harness the abilities of the eZ80 like it's always been done, that communicates to me that this community can still sustain itself so long as there remains a way to have access to this functionality, even if it warrants jumping over multiple hurdles (which is more than worth it for the benefit it provides, anyways). BASIC programming is sticking around on the calculators for the foreseeable future, and CE communities tend to be all-encompassing in their acceptance of BASIC programmers as well, so anyone interested in such a thing will very likely find the previously-unbeknownst-to-them possibility of assembly and C programming through the calculator community they reside in, even it's passive, as it's already taken significant prominence over many other kinds of calculator
hacking (not
that "hacking"). At that point, all that remains is some way to still access it, and I'm very confident we will find a way before the patch starts to show up on store shelves.
This could be naive optimism, but I still have a lot of hope. I've only been a part of this community for a little over a month now, and it's already become something I want to stay in for years to come due to how welcoming and friendly it is. I feel that other budding hackers (again, not the Hollywood kind) with a similar appreciation for technology to mine will feel much the same way. There are missteps and setbacks, but the passion and commitment to experimentation and collaboration among CE enthusiasts still holds true and will likely remain this way all the way into gen alpha, beta, etc... the Ambrotype as a photographic process has been dead for over a century now, but you still see people taking excellent photos with it whose grandparents weren't even born when it was phased out of common practice, because it has and always will be novel and full of possibilities that just
won't die because it's so darn interesting and will continue to be practically forever.
