In your house, your cat is kept in an environment
artificially free of prey, given poor imitations of real meat at your whim several times per day, subjected to an endless succession of rewards
and punishments dispensed according to the byzantine system of social conventions governing proper conduct in human households, and
will grow fat and lazy and die painfully of heart disease or some similar ailment.
I guess the main reason I won't be investing in new DC gadgetry, though, is that it becomes more and more apparent over time that game
companies are by and large not neat, creative cottage industries interested in hacking, exploration, or or neat development products. They
are evil consumer electronics corporations who want my money are who are all too eager to restrict, dumb down, and hobble their products
if it is in the interest of their bottom line.
Maybe you haven't noticed, but game consoles are already "dumbed down" and "restricted" machines, they always have been and likely always will be. They're not marketed as "open platforms" for anyone to hack away at, which is why there's a big novelty factor when someone actually does.
The console industry raked in $9 billion last year; any similarity between console makers and a "creative cottage industry" is purely coincidental. But to those truly interested in hacking these specialized little boxes to do things they were never built for, the booting restriction is only one more small hurdle for the determined hacker to leap.
Consoles probably will turn into computers, but not until HDTV support is standard. It's all about standards. HDTV offers more than enough
resolution to read text on the screen and do a spreadsheet from your couch.
I don't think there'll be a convergence between the console and the PC. Even HDTV will be unweildy to do any text-intensive tasks on from the couch across the room whereas a PC on a desk with a monitor already performs that function perfectly. The PC is becoming easier to set up (USB) and the graphics hardware is getting more console-like, but I don't think people are willing to give up hard drive installations of software and the off-the-shelf x86 PC platform just yet.
I expect the two forces to borrow new technologies for their own, but the power of specialization is an abyss that keeps them both indispensable yet seperated, possibly forever.
Video games didn't crash in 1984; consoles did. I think the same statement may be applicable in 2002, as the author of the article indicates.
The 1984 console crash saw the industry transform from a fad into a multibillion dollar industry. With demand for the PS2 strong, an ever-growing Dreamcast userbase and two more consoles on the way, things have never looked brighter for them. The competition may get ugly, but more competition will be good for everyone in the long run. I just don't buy the "too many consoles are bad" theory.
The most likely scenario is that consoles will rake even more cash over the next few years, will continue to remain as dedicated game playing devices and PCs will continue on being PCs long after this article is forgotten.
It's not that consoles will turn into PCs, it's that low end PCs will be cheap and powerful enough to compete with the consoles. You could
buy a $300 console system and a $500 PC or you could just buy the $500 PC (or use the savings and buy an $800 PC). The problem with
consoles is that they are not a necessity for people whereas computers are entirely necessary unless you like to live the life of a hermit.
The problem PCs have had with competing with consoles has never really been about price. The problem is, a PC does gaming simply because it can. A proper console does nothing but gaming, has the vast bulk of its hardware dedicated to graphics/sound and has input devices specialized for playing games. So, even if the two were the same price, it's likely the console would outperform the PC and deliver the better pure gaming experience.
A PC is still darn useful, but I don't expect either to eliminate the other anytime soon.
Fortunately for all of us, consoles and computers have borrowed features from one another. Consoles now have modems, computers now have dedicated graphics hardware, etc. I imagine this trend will continue.
However, I can't see the two becoming one to the point that we'll be doing our taxes on the Dreamcast-8 or some such thing. Computers are still excellent at nonspecialized tasks, and consoles are still excellent for simple game-playing. I think that trend is likely to continue long into the forseeable future.
Consoles have had 20 years to turn into computers. They haven't, and likely won't. Ever. Computers are nonspecialized devices that play a few games, do your taxes, browse the web and so forth. Consoles are specialized for gaming, and every attempt to make them nonspecialized (3D0 springs to mind) has failed utterly. I can't see how that'll change now.
I suspect, regardless of what else happens, the PS2 won't be a failure. There is this very nice gradual transfer from PSX to PS2 that exists;
developers can continue to make and release PS games, to be bought and played by owners of both PS2 and PSX consoles, while releasing
and selling 'enhanced' PS2 versions of exact same games(Thereby reusing much of the same art, animation, music, and production costs,
while only incurring the, admittedly not inconsequential, development costs of the PS2). There is also the advantage, to Sony, of buyers
indulging in DVDs, if only because they just happen to have a DVD player, in their PS2. VCDs never had this kind of option with the Saturn.
I doubt the PS2 will be a flop (and I hope not, in order to keep as much competition as possible in the console market) but the current state of the PS2 isn't very heartening.
The DVD feature might get more PS2s sold, but with the losses Sony takes on each sale, they need people buying them for gaming boxes to break even.
What Sony really needs is to ramp up production so that there's enough of a userbase for the developers to make good on their hefty investment in the PS2. This shortage isn't a Sony trick; if developers can't sell enough games because of a lack of PS2 owners, they'll have no choice but to jump ship and move on to other consoles.
Again, for the sake of competition I hope that doesn't happen. But there's still that possibility.
The Saturn had an unusual architecture and was difficult for developers to program for.
The PS2 has an unusual architecture that is difficult for developers to program for.
The Saturn had a great deal of unused power under the hood that was exploited later.
The PS2 has a great deal of unused power that will likely be exploited later.
The Saturn was released to only a handful of retailers in limited numbers.
The PS2 was released to many retailers in extremely limited numbers.
The Saturn cost much more than the competition at launch.
The PS2 costs much more than the competition at launch.
Time will only tell if the PS2 is more successful than the Saturn was, but Sony desperately needs to get these things in peoples' homes if they're going to have any success. There's a lot of demand now, but it's not going to last forever.
Penguin Computing already sells AMD Linux boxes. If VA doesn't want to sell you the box you want, Penguin will. They're fast, helpful and ship with a shitload of extras - like a mountain of docs. I highly recommend them.
As you say, the regular old internet of today is a great place for "niche" information that is of interest to only a few. But, as Ian says, it doesn't scale well as "niche" information becomes more popular. For example, if you're distributing a piece of software from your little web site and suddenly all of/. wants to download it, you're hosed. But if you move it to Freenet, suddenly you're a lot less hosed than before.
In short, I don't think Freenet's distributed distribution system (for lack of a better term) and the ftp/web's centralized distribution system need be exclusive - there's room enough for both. And we need something to ease the problem of getting popular data (like the latest Linux kernel, or a new distribution, or whatever) distributed.
I wouldn't equate Mozilla to Emacs. Emacs is big, but it's also modular and, most of all, extremely stable. Mozilla, on the other hand, seems far more monolithic and a lot less stable. I've actually toyed with the idea of a "Lisp environment as a web browser" in the spirit of Emacs/Gimp/Sawfish/etc., but not much more than that. Mozilla is alright (I'm using it now), but I think we can do something that's faster, smaller and better in every way simply by keeping it simpler and more modular.
It's not an actual 7800, however, but a 7800 case with 2600 guts and all the 2600 games inside the box. It's called "bankzilla" for all the switching done between the titles.
Actually, you are quite wrong. PostgreSQL has more documentation
The online PostgreSQL book is ~490 pages and the latest online MySQL manual I have is ~460, which is comparable. But MySQL also has an >700 page "New Riders" book and an >460 page O'Reilly book. Other than the online text, I haven't found any other PostgreSQL books, which is unfortunate.
Python, in particular, has PostgreSQL bindings but they don't yet conform to the 2.0 DB spec, which is a pain. In general, the PostgreSQL modules seem older and less maintained than the MySQL modules, which is both a cause and a symptom of support problems.
Again, I see nothing technically wrong with PostgreSQL. But if it's going to get more popular, I still believe it needs more support in terms of documentation and languages.
I think the lack of tools, row-level locking, transaction support, etc. in MySQL are a shame. Yet, people talk like its the best thing since
sliced bread.
I'm pretty certain few people actually think MySQL is a wonderful DBM that's the best thing since sliced bread. Most are keenly aware of its deficiencies but defend it because of two features that are invaluable to a successful open-source product:
It is well-documented. MySQL has copious amounts of online documentation (much more than PostgreSQL, as I recall) and at least two large books (one if which is quite informative). The importance of good documentation cannot be overstated.
It interoperates well. MySQL has bindings for about a zillion different languages, whereas PostgreSQL is still catching up. This gives MySQL the appearance of being better supported, and in the world of open-source, the better supported product will win out over the technically superior one.
There's no doubt that PostgreSQL is a good DBM, but MySQL will remain more popular until the support for it arrives.
It's interesting that Sega expects a return to profitability in 2001. What's also interesting is that Sony posted a loss nearly 3 times that of Sega, hasn't released enough product for xmas and rumors are floating around that there won't be more PS2s til spring. I wonder when the Sony doom & gloom rumors will start...
Really, all this Salon article says is that making consoles is a money-losing business in the short term (which we all knew already) and a whole bunch of speculation about Sega and Microsoft and whatnot. I'm waiting for facts, not what ifs.
Every time a piece of hardware tanks (32X) and even when a console sells well (Dreamcast), this "Sega getting out of the hardware business" rumors floats around. And, every time the rumor floats around, everyone hops on the bandwagon about how great an idea it is ("Sega's hardware suxors!", "They can make more money in software!"). Then, a few years down the line, they make another console and the cycle continues.
I'll believe it when I see it, because I've heard all these lines about a million times before.
I'd be pretty pissed to have my computer gear swiped as evidence, but in the grand scheme of things, just how important is it? Yeah, I'd have to work to replace it, but I was planning on working anyway.
Perhaps I'm just too optimistic, but this guy still has his freedom and won't be spending any time behind bars for his non-crimes. To me, that's a lot more important than replacable "stuff". But maybe that's just how my priorities are...
except `the man from sega` is already saying that the DC will be their last console and they`ll be moving into software (only)
Just like 'the man from Sega' said the Saturn would be their last console and they'd be moving to software only. I imagine Sega's next system will also be their last before moving to software only, and the one after that...
A database is any ordered collection of data. Thus, the/etc/passwd file is a database. Make sure not to confuse it with the various RDBMS terms which, taken as a whole, form a subset of actual database-ness.
Slashdot Mirror
It's a life disturbingly similar to my own.
And I don't even own a cat.
Now with that wonder of the world in the bag, we can start building modules for the space ark.
Maybe you haven't noticed, but game consoles are already "dumbed down" and "restricted" machines, they always have been and likely always will be. They're not marketed as "open platforms" for anyone to hack away at, which is why there's a big novelty factor when someone actually does.
The console industry raked in $9 billion last year; any similarity between console makers and a "creative cottage industry" is purely coincidental. But to those truly interested in hacking these specialized little boxes to do things they were never built for, the booting restriction is only one more small hurdle for the determined hacker to leap.
I don't think there'll be a convergence between the console and the PC. Even HDTV will be unweildy to do any text-intensive tasks on from the couch across the room whereas a PC on a desk with a monitor already performs that function perfectly. The PC is becoming easier to set up (USB) and the graphics hardware is getting more console-like, but I don't think people are willing to give up hard drive installations of software and the off-the-shelf x86 PC platform just yet.
I expect the two forces to borrow new technologies for their own, but the power of specialization is an abyss that keeps them both indispensable yet seperated, possibly forever.
The 1984 console crash saw the industry transform from a fad into a multibillion dollar industry. With demand for the PS2 strong, an ever-growing Dreamcast userbase and two more consoles on the way, things have never looked brighter for them. The competition may get ugly, but more competition will be good for everyone in the long run. I just don't buy the "too many consoles are bad" theory.
The most likely scenario is that consoles will rake even more cash over the next few years, will continue to remain as dedicated game playing devices and PCs will continue on being PCs long after this article is forgotten.
The problem PCs have had with competing with consoles has never really been about price. The problem is, a PC does gaming simply because it can. A proper console does nothing but gaming, has the vast bulk of its hardware dedicated to graphics/sound and has input devices specialized for playing games. So, even if the two were the same price, it's likely the console would outperform the PC and deliver the better pure gaming experience.
A PC is still darn useful, but I don't expect either to eliminate the other anytime soon.
However, I can't see the two becoming one to the point that we'll be doing our taxes on the Dreamcast-8 or some such thing. Computers are still excellent at nonspecialized tasks, and consoles are still excellent for simple game-playing. I think that trend is likely to continue long into the forseeable future.
Consoles have had 20 years to turn into computers. They haven't, and likely won't. Ever. Computers are nonspecialized devices that play a few games, do your taxes, browse the web and so forth. Consoles are specialized for gaming, and every attempt to make them nonspecialized (3D0 springs to mind) has failed utterly. I can't see how that'll change now.
That's amazing, considering the plastic bricks came about 30 years after WWI was over.
(with apologies to rec.humor.funny)
I doubt the PS2 will be a flop (and I hope not, in order to keep as much competition as possible in the console market) but the current state of the PS2 isn't very heartening.
The DVD feature might get more PS2s sold, but with the losses Sony takes on each sale, they need people buying them for gaming boxes to break even. What Sony really needs is to ramp up production so that there's enough of a userbase for the developers to make good on their hefty investment in the PS2. This shortage isn't a Sony trick; if developers can't sell enough games because of a lack of PS2 owners, they'll have no choice but to jump ship and move on to other consoles.
Again, for the sake of competition I hope that doesn't happen. But there's still that possibility.
Time will only tell if the PS2 is more successful than the Saturn was, but Sony desperately needs to get these things in peoples' homes if they're going to have any success. There's a lot of demand now, but it's not going to last forever.
Penguin Computing already sells AMD Linux boxes. If VA doesn't want to sell you the box you want, Penguin will. They're fast, helpful and ship with a shitload of extras - like a mountain of docs. I highly recommend them.
That depends on the ruble->dollar exchange rate ;)
It'll also make a very nice space heater. If dual P4s arrive, they'll be ideal for superior bread toasting, or so I hear.
In short, I don't think Freenet's distributed distribution system (for lack of a better term) and the ftp/web's centralized distribution system need be exclusive - there's room enough for both. And we need something to ease the problem of getting popular data (like the latest Linux kernel, or a new distribution, or whatever) distributed.
I wouldn't equate Mozilla to Emacs. Emacs is big, but it's also modular and, most of all, extremely stable. Mozilla, on the other hand, seems far more monolithic and a lot less stable. I've actually toyed with the idea of a "Lisp environment as a web browser" in the spirit of Emacs/Gimp/Sawfish/etc., but not much more than that. Mozilla is alright (I'm using it now), but I think we can do something that's faster, smaller and better in every way simply by keeping it simpler and more modular.
It's not an actual 7800, however, but a 7800 case with 2600 guts and all the 2600 games inside the box. It's called "bankzilla" for all the switching done between the titles.
The online PostgreSQL book is ~490 pages and the latest online MySQL manual I have is ~460, which is comparable. But MySQL also has an >700 page "New Riders" book and an >460 page O'Reilly book. Other than the online text, I haven't found any other PostgreSQL books, which is unfortunate.
Python, in particular, has PostgreSQL bindings but they don't yet conform to the 2.0 DB spec, which is a pain. In general, the PostgreSQL modules seem older and less maintained than the MySQL modules, which is both a cause and a symptom of support problems.
Again, I see nothing technically wrong with PostgreSQL. But if it's going to get more popular, I still believe it needs more support in terms of documentation and languages.
I'm pretty certain few people actually think MySQL is a wonderful DBM that's the best thing since sliced bread. Most are keenly aware of its deficiencies but defend it because of two features that are invaluable to a successful open-source product:
There's no doubt that PostgreSQL is a good DBM, but MySQL will remain more popular until the support for it arrives.
Really, all this Salon article says is that making consoles is a money-losing business in the short term (which we all knew already) and a whole bunch of speculation about Sega and Microsoft and whatnot. I'm waiting for facts, not what ifs.
I'll believe it when I see it, because I've heard all these lines about a million times before.
Perhaps I'm just too optimistic, but this guy still has his freedom and won't be spending any time behind bars for his non-crimes. To me, that's a lot more important than replacable "stuff". But maybe that's just how my priorities are...
Just like 'the man from Sega' said the Saturn would be their last console and they'd be moving to software only. I imagine Sega's next system will also be their last before moving to software only, and the one after that...
A database is any ordered collection of data. Thus, the /etc/passwd file is a database. Make sure not to confuse it with the various RDBMS terms which, taken as a whole, form a subset of actual database-ness.