You may think that mainframes are the end to all computing, that they are the best way to get massive power. However, there are things that I would not consider doing with a $1,000,000 computer.
Playing games - sure, they're powerful computers, and would make helluvacool half-life or UT servers, they are shared, and far too expensive to waste time with a game that often crashes, forcing reboots. Also, not enough game-related hardware such as GeForce 256 and SBLive! cards are available.
3D graphics - mainframes powerful renderers, not good for viewport stuff in 3DS, for the same reason they aren't good enough for games.
Other typical PC user stuff - most home computer programs are not demanding enough to demand a mainframe, therefore are just not cost-effective
Sure, all this may be because I use Windows, or maybe I have some management tendencies lurking within me. However, I will probably never need a mainframe for the tasks I perform, and most people never will.
"Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
I don't think there's too much trouble with losing games and other applications as the hardware that runs them obsoleces... New ones will be created, and the best of the old will be ported. The best of the old DO NOT always get ported. If you ever played an old DOS game like mazemakr (generated radial mazes based on parameters including radials and concentrics), jumpjoe (help janitor joe defeat the evil robots), and Commander Keen (like the Super Mario Bros., and made by the same people behind Wolf3D - if you've never played this...) and have not seen them ported to linux or windows, you probably find fault with this argument. Now, Window$ 9x and Linux can run DOS programs, but NT can't, and linux can't very well. Also, new hardware, even ones that emulate older versions, like SB Live, doesn't always support or have the nuances that the programmers of the original supported. Fortunately, to combat the problem of old games becoming unusable, most people have short memories of games whenever new and better ones are released. Some people, who were the biggest fans of jumpjoe, now are completely enthralled with C&C:TS (which ranks somewhere between TA and StarCraft) and can't even remember Jumpjoe. Sucks to them, mostly for liking TS. However, this is the reason that nobody really cares that all of these games came on 5.25 inch disks that are now unreadable. You can compare this problem to that of old texts describing primitive society and their gradual decline in usability. You can recover them to a newer format, but even then, the majority of society couldn't possibly give a rat's ass.
"Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
Wireless will probably never obsolete wired lines, for the same reason that large corporations use old outdated computers prone to Y2K glitches. I still use my dependable, rarely has static, corded phone. There will always be bandwidth problems. A large amount of people using cell phones in an area is just like many people talking in a room. Either you share your bandwidth (raise your hand to talk) or you get an undecipherable mess.
"Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
Simple control system for multiple displays
on
38-Inch LCD Panels
·
· Score: 1
OK, you have your LCD display that is the size of Rhode Island and you want to control it? Get 4 computers! Load each one up with a GeForce 256, and you can play 4 games of Half-Life at the same time. If you're smart, you will be able to write some fancy code that only renders a quarter of the screen (and a GeForce goes up to 1024 at >=60fps) and you have your 2048 resolution screen. And it's made with current technology!
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- Playing games - sure, they're powerful computers, and would make helluvacool half-life or UT servers, they are shared, and far too expensive to waste time with a game that often crashes, forcing reboots. Also, not enough game-related hardware such as GeForce 256 and SBLive! cards are available.
- 3D graphics - mainframes powerful renderers, not good for viewport stuff in 3DS, for the same reason they aren't good enough for games.
- Other typical PC user stuff - most home computer programs are not demanding enough to demand a mainframe, therefore are just not cost-effective
Sure, all this may be because I use Windows, or maybe I have some management tendencies lurking within me. However, I will probably never need a mainframe for the tasks I perform, and most people never will."Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
The best of the old DO NOT always get ported. If you ever played an old DOS game like mazemakr (generated radial mazes based on parameters including radials and concentrics), jumpjoe (help janitor joe defeat the evil robots), and Commander Keen (like the Super Mario Bros., and made by the same people behind Wolf3D - if you've never played this...) and have not seen them ported to linux or windows, you probably find fault with this argument. Now, Window$ 9x and Linux can run DOS programs, but NT can't, and linux can't very well. Also, new hardware, even ones that emulate older versions, like SB Live, doesn't always support or have the nuances that the programmers of the original supported.
Fortunately, to combat the problem of old games becoming unusable, most people have short memories of games whenever new and better ones are released. Some people, who were the biggest fans of jumpjoe, now are completely enthralled with C&C:TS (which ranks somewhere between TA and StarCraft) and can't even remember Jumpjoe. Sucks to them, mostly for liking TS. However, this is the reason that nobody really cares that all of these games came on 5.25 inch disks that are now unreadable.
You can compare this problem to that of old texts describing primitive society and their gradual decline in usability. You can recover them to a newer format, but even then, the majority of society couldn't possibly give a rat's ass.
"Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
"Assume the worst about people, and you'll generally be correct"
OK, you have your LCD display that is the size of Rhode Island and you want to control it? Get 4 computers! Load each one up with a GeForce 256, and you can play 4 games of Half-Life at the same time. If you're smart, you will be able to write some fancy code that only renders a quarter of the screen (and a GeForce goes up to 1024 at >=60fps) and you have your 2048 resolution screen. And it's made with current technology!