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"Levels" of Computers the Future?
RabidMoose writes "Gamespot has an article up talking about a recent interview with Microsofts's Dean Lester about the future of PC gaming (as well as Xbox 2 tidbits). Basically, they're in contact with the big hardare producers about transitioning to a system of tagging pre-made computers with "levels". He provided a hypothetical example that a PC with a "level 5" designation might have a medium processor speed, amount of RAM, and mid-range video card, while a "level 7" PC might have a faster processor, more RAM, and a higher-end video card."
In other words, they're trying to bring the "MPC" standards from the early 90's back?
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/MPC.html
Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
From my read on this, the "level" would be something broadcast from the bios, so as to protect users from trying to run incompatible software on their system and complaining when it doesn't work. Just watch. This means there will be games that refuse to run on your "Level unidentified" system.
This idea isn't revolutionary, but I think what could be is saying that Level 8 is a gaming machine with a very precise configuration that manufacturers have to build to, and, say, game developers saying that all of their games will run well on such and such a level. Pretty much the standardization that consoles give us, but on a PC. Never, ever have I had to worry whether an XBox game will run well on my rig. If only I had that luxury on a PC.
I think you might have a point. Such a tactic would be a classic monopolist tactic. Charge different prices to different people based on their demand level (money willing to spend.) That way you maximize your fleecing of the public.
This is how IBM made so much money in the 50's. They made very little profits on their mainframes, because the shelf life of the mainframes was so long. So they made all their money on punch cards. If you used somebody else's punchcard, you voided your warranty. They would charge different companies different prices for punchcards, based on how much money the company was worth. A company worth more got charged more.
Everybody seems to either be telling D&D jokes or flaming the idea. Keep in mind that most people that use computers are dumb as dirt on the topic. I worked at ChimpUSA in college, and it really opened my eyes. A very common question would involve someone shoving a new game at me and saying, 'I have a dell. Will this run?'.
While several people have pointed out that a L8 video card will not make a L3 system into a L8 system, at least you have a baseline language to work with.
I suspect they want this so software vendors can slap a sticker on a box that says 'Level 8' system required. It's not a perfect system, but it beats having ignorant sales people try to explain video card ram and HD seek times to Ma and Pa Kettle.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Back in the VAX/VMS days, our school's VAXcluster included an ancient VAX 11/785, because it was much cheaper for us to license software for that machine than for the other, faster machines. When we finally turned it off in (I think) 1996, it was the last 11/785 operating in NJ.
Welcome to the automobile industry. The amount of time and money is a lot different but direct parallels can be drawn. Autos were toys for hobbyists at first and then everybody wanted one and they became 'dumbed down' and hobbyists resented it.
Can you rebuild your own transmission? That's the auto equivalent of rolling a kernel, or maybe fixing driver corruption in Windows without a complete reinstall (aka chucking a car and getting a new one) Do you want to get out and crank your engine manually to start it? No? Well, then thank the person that bitched about it in 1912 or whenever it was that they got rid of that. Just like some people don't want to spend their evenings running virus scanners and debugging the alpha source for the latest foozle on sf.net.
Agree! I think the only thing you need to know about the computer you need/want is which color (or is it flavor?) that is should be!
GAMES. For what most people do with their PCS, "extra power" just isn't necessary. Five year old computers that were mid range when they were created are sufficient. They may be sluggish sometimes, but it's tolerable.
But if you're a gamer, performance is very important to the whole experience of the game. It's not like waiting for a program to load or encoding an mp3, where patience is all you need to deal with poor performance. In games, bad performance translates into poor frame rates, which can translate into an unplayable game.
Game developers will always find new ways to utilize improvements in PC performance. More detailed models and textures, more animations, better physics, better lighting and particle effects, better AI, ect.
Game developers will continue to push the envelope and as a result, hardware developers will always have a reason to do the same, and there will always be a demand for an improved product. Until the technical limitations imposed by real physics make it infeasible to continue to make significant improvements in PC performance at a price point that is affordable to most gamers.
To continue the retarded analogy even further: do you know what kind of brakes you car has? Do you know what type of steering box your car has? Do you know how many watts your alternator outputs or what your final drive ratio is on your gearbox?
My guess is, probably not. For the average driver, just knowing whether you got the Sport model or the Luxury model is probably enough. For some, even that's too much. It's specialized knowledge and should not be required.
I should not have to compile a kernel to use a computer. This is bad design. I should have the CHOICE to compile a kernel if I want to...but that's it.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
I believe it took me all of about 10 minutes to figure out that virtually every Ctrl+ combo on a PC is Apple+ on apple. I don't think it took but a couple of days and I was in the full swing of things.
I have some complaints about the mac UI, but really, even the mythical "typical user" with the oft presumed IQ of a nat could transition within a week or so.
The PC industry is about making the fastest machines at the lowest dollars. Personally I wish somebody would do a little design at the expense of speed, but that is another story.
Getting back to the levels. This is an attempt to qualtify what you are doing, then sell you a computer that fits. --The problem is that they all fit for almost everybody.
If Microsoft can get folks to buy into the level system, they can then certify hardware as being level 3 compliant, or some other such thing. Each year, they will put out little charts and graphs that equate their current bloat to the level guides. Hardware makers will get something new to talk about.
Most of us will get screwed because the level system will hide the actual specs and reduce the average persons awareness of what they are buying. They want to dumb this down because uninformed people more easily part with their money.
The current status quo looks bad for everyone really. Good hardware can be had for about $300. Legal software for that machine can easily triple that. More people are learning this lesson so something has to change to keep the dollars flowing.
Almost nobody in the industry wants people making their own PC's. The way things are right now, you can buy "made for windows" hardware, throw it into a cool case and you are good to go. (Of course, you should be running Linux, but that too is another story.) Specs are specs. People see a bundle and can shop around pretty easily.
Now lets talk about a Level 3 computer? What's inside? How does it compare to my P4 2Ghz.... ? Will hardware makers sell Level 3 kits? What if people want to choose different vendors?
It's all about the bundle. Microsoft has made their fortune bundling things together in ways that encourage people to buy. This bundling of hardware and terminology will simply allow them to better leverage their already strong dominant position in the hardware end of things.
It will be at our expense. (It always is.) Bundles limit choice. Where there is limited choice, people pay more.
No thanks, people are learning now. Might as well just let them continue to get smarter so they can make their own choices.
I do give Microsoft credit though. --It's a good move. Creative. Hope most folks know better.
Blogging because I can...
...this sort of thing wouldn't be an issue. Who established the shortcuts of +X, C, V for Cut, Copy, Paste? Apple! Likewise nearly every common shortcut. The fact that on 'doze they decided to use a DIFFERENT modifier should not be a problem now laid at Apple's feet - M$ shoulda copied it more thoroughly!
The problem is just as bad going he other way, from Mac to Win - I keep trying to paste and getting a bloody menu popping down.
Another thing that really bugs me on Windows is typing accented characters - on the Mac most of these work in a moderately intuitive way once you've seen it once - you can nearly always guess the right key combo based on what you want to appear (i.e. option e + e gives you é, option u + u gives you ü). On 'doze you have to either learn very arcane character codes or else use the severely broken character palette - which, when you cut/paste from it also forces a new FONT and COLOUR on the text you paste - like I just wanted a character, I already formatted that text you stupid !@#$%!!!