Couldn't help but recall 3dfx's pace of innovation... seemed like at one point (Banshee-ish?) they were introducing everything almost simultaneously. nVidia was known then, as now, for introducing new products at a steady pace (e.g. every six months) whereas 3dfx was prone to sudden flurries of development, and then nothing for the better part of a year. nVidia has a good formula with their current twice-yearly strategy- even if the new chip was ready for production tomorrow, they could spend the remaining six months on R&D and COST REDUCTION- hell, maybe some games would actually support the GF3 chipset by then...
As others have said, Quake 3 is one of the big benchmarking "utilities" on the enthusiast sites. Apparently someone was plugging through the driver code when they found a string which contained "uake." This, amongst a sea of numbers. They suspected driver optimization by ATI, and a few days later [H]ardOCP relased the "quack test" numbers. There was a lot of unsaid "nudge, wink" stuff in that review, though Kyle did get pretty blunt at the end. I'm not saying I don't trust ATI, but I've always carefully considered any purchases I've made from them- someone out there always dislikes them for one reason or another, and the reasons are usually pretty interesting.
Five years ago most people didn't know what a minidisc was. I'd say most of my fellow students now know what they are- they finally seem to be becoming popular, largely in part to the MDLP compression standard (up to 320 min. of music per disc), and the availability of "docks" to attach to one's computer. Students around here (design school) are carrying them more and more, preferring them to expensive MP3 players. The recorders have dropped in price- you can now get a recorder for around $140- and they're scarcely larger than the discs they play. It only took Sony ten years to get the format right.
I recall reading about magnetorheological fluids about 4-5 years ago in one of those "homebrew VR" books. They wanted to try using them as force-feedback devices (e.g. fluid under the fingers in a glove which hardens to suggest a solid surface). Basically iron filings in oil, as I can remember. They also talked about electrorheological fluids (sp?)- basically cornstarch suspended in vegetable oil- a little easier to control than MR fluid in that you didn't need cumbersome electromagnets, just a small step-up circuit needed for the roughly 25 Kvolts to get the lattice to "lock" (i.e. to get the ER fluid to harden). (Despite what you're thinking, it wasn't dangerous if everything was tight and well-insulated). They quoted a company's price for commercial ER fluid- something like $200/quart- when the homebrewer could do just as well with cornstarch/oil. I'd think you'd need to put an emulsifier in there if you were to hold the cornstarch particles in suspension for any extended period of time. Now I want to find that darn book... believe it was "Garage Virtual Reality" by Linda Jacobson. Might've been the other half-dozen "homebrew VR" books I bought around that time, though.:-)
Used to be that whenever I installed/reinstalled Windows, I could use the machine from the get-go. Increasingly I'm forced to connect to Microsoft's "Windows Update" server and download the latest bleeding-edge updates because one app or another isn't working right. DirectX, "critical updates," et al are making me more reliant on the Net: I now think of a Windows install as one part CD, one part downloading all manner of updates. Don't get me started on the "activation" process for new WinXP installs. I see DRM as an extension of this- besides the usual restrictions (pay-per-song, etc.) the thing that bothers me more is the fact that I'll have to be Net-connected somehow in order to "renew" my music/video/content. I'm a notorious data-hoarder, and I don't like the idea of any of my content expiring on me. Assume DRM caught on in a big way a year ago, in early 2000. Ten years from now, when the then-current iteration of DRM is all but forgotten/outdated, how will I be able to view my WTC attack footage? There is *important stuff* on the Internet which would suffer a great deal from DRM, no matter how lax it turns out to be.
Yeah, the "to-do" guide was a little simpler than I'd have liked, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the guides on SOME other hardware websites ("REPLACE j00R GR33N POW3R LED WITH A BLU3 ONE!"). I found the bit about metalworkers and MRIs pretty interesting. I use grinders and metal saws quite a bit, and I'm going to have to look into this.
Let's see OpenGL 1.5 first. I'm tired of software dev'rs artificially bumping up version numbers for no reason. Christ, Deneba skipped Canvas 4 altogether, going from 3.5 to 5.0- what's the deal? And Photoshop 5 vs. 5.5- they include one extra bit of external software- what the hell was that? Heck, why not just bump it from 1.3 to 9.0 in order to "surpass" DirectX- it's about bloody time!
Slightly off-topic, but it seems like quite a few people are complaining about the imminent death of FireWire. No, no- it won't die; it'll kinda end up like SCSI- an external interface for DTP types. (Does anyone still use the term "desktop publishing" anymore? Or has everyone become an HTML chimp? According to Wired?:-)
Apple had its chance back in 1988 to popularize FireWire. Yes, 1988, when they developed the standard. I don't know of any PC mobos with built-in FireWire, but EVERYBODY has USB. Manufacturers aren't going to spend an extra $20 on a FireWire controller chip for each mobo, so FireWire's never going to be "the standard."
On a side note, Apple's new "Apple Display Connector" is probably the dumbest thing I've seen, but they got one thing right: SQUEEZE CLIPS! Why do I have to spend 45 seconds unscrewing my fscking VGA and DVI connectors? Why not a goddamn squeeze clip like in Wide SCSI?
Quick! Before DVI becomes too widespread, somebody convince the guys/gals in charge to adopt squeeze clips on the DVI connector.
1) I had the impression that multi-head gaming setups were already known. Sure, I've never seen one personally, but it just seems kinda natural for an FPS player to set up something like this. Hopefully vendors will start building this capability in to the extent that you can select # of displays from the game's video options menu.
2) Buy four video projectors and construct a 180-degree, curved, wraparound screen, ala "Toys." Preferably wear shutter glasses in addition.
3) ~20fps @ 320x240 on a Voodoo3? It's no GeForce DDR, but c'mon... somebody oughta optimize games/drivers for dual-head gaming.
At least they're making up for what they did- or didn't do- pre-Jobs.
Remember when there were NO surprises, no innovation? When nobody cared? Nowadays, you can go, "How about that G4 Cube?" and suddenly, you're having a Discussion About Cool Hardware.
Did you ever hear a guy/gal go, "Boy! That Power Mac 6500 is somethin' else, isn't it? What I wouldn't do to get THAT thing on my desk..!"
Slashdot Mirror
Couldn't help but recall 3dfx's pace of innovation... seemed like at one point (Banshee-ish?) they were introducing everything almost simultaneously. nVidia was known then, as now, for introducing new products at a steady pace (e.g. every six months) whereas 3dfx was prone to sudden flurries of development, and then nothing for the better part of a year. nVidia has a good formula with their current twice-yearly strategy- even if the new chip was ready for production tomorrow, they could spend the remaining six months on R&D and COST REDUCTION- hell, maybe some games would actually support the GF3 chipset by then...
A bird treadmill! I love it!
As others have said, Quake 3 is one of the big benchmarking "utilities" on the enthusiast sites. Apparently someone was plugging through the driver code when they found a string which contained "uake." This, amongst a sea of numbers. They suspected driver optimization by ATI, and a few days later [H]ardOCP relased the "quack test" numbers. There was a lot of unsaid "nudge, wink" stuff in that review, though Kyle did get pretty blunt at the end. I'm not saying I don't trust ATI, but I've always carefully considered any purchases I've made from them- someone out there always dislikes them for one reason or another, and the reasons are usually pretty interesting.
Five years ago most people didn't know what a minidisc was. I'd say most of my fellow students now know what they are- they finally seem to be becoming popular, largely in part to the MDLP compression standard (up to 320 min. of music per disc), and the availability of "docks" to attach to one's computer. Students around here (design school) are carrying them more and more, preferring them to expensive MP3 players. The recorders have dropped in price- you can now get a recorder for around $140- and they're scarcely larger than the discs they play. It only took Sony ten years to get the format right.
I recall reading about magnetorheological fluids about 4-5 years ago in one of those "homebrew VR" books. They wanted to try using them as force-feedback devices (e.g. fluid under the fingers in a glove which hardens to suggest a solid surface). Basically iron filings in oil, as I can remember. They also talked about electrorheological fluids (sp?)- basically cornstarch suspended in vegetable oil- a little easier to control than MR fluid in that you didn't need cumbersome electromagnets, just a small step-up circuit needed for the roughly 25 Kvolts to get the lattice to "lock" (i.e. to get the ER fluid to harden). (Despite what you're thinking, it wasn't dangerous if everything was tight and well-insulated). They quoted a company's price for commercial ER fluid- something like $200/quart- when the homebrewer could do just as well with cornstarch/oil. I'd think you'd need to put an emulsifier in there if you were to hold the cornstarch particles in suspension for any extended period of time. Now I want to find that darn book... believe it was "Garage Virtual Reality" by Linda Jacobson. Might've been the other half-dozen "homebrew VR" books I bought around that time, though. :-)
Used to be that whenever I installed/reinstalled Windows, I could use the machine from the get-go. Increasingly I'm forced to connect to Microsoft's "Windows Update" server and download the latest bleeding-edge updates because one app or another isn't working right. DirectX, "critical updates," et al are making me more reliant on the Net: I now think of a Windows install as one part CD, one part downloading all manner of updates. Don't get me started on the "activation" process for new WinXP installs. I see DRM as an extension of this- besides the usual restrictions (pay-per-song, etc.) the thing that bothers me more is the fact that I'll have to be Net-connected somehow in order to "renew" my music/video/content. I'm a notorious data-hoarder, and I don't like the idea of any of my content expiring on me. Assume DRM caught on in a big way a year ago, in early 2000. Ten years from now, when the then-current iteration of DRM is all but forgotten/outdated, how will I be able to view my WTC attack footage? There is *important stuff* on the Internet which would suffer a great deal from DRM, no matter how lax it turns out to be.
Yeah, the "to-do" guide was a little simpler than I'd have liked, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the guides on SOME other hardware websites ("REPLACE j00R GR33N POW3R LED WITH A BLU3 ONE!"). I found the bit about metalworkers and MRIs pretty interesting. I use grinders and metal saws quite a bit, and I'm going to have to look into this.
Let's see OpenGL 1.5 first. I'm tired of software dev'rs artificially bumping up version numbers for no reason. Christ, Deneba skipped Canvas 4 altogether, going from 3.5 to 5.0- what's the deal? And Photoshop 5 vs. 5.5- they include one extra bit of external software- what the hell was that? Heck, why not just bump it from 1.3 to 9.0 in order to "surpass" DirectX- it's about bloody time!
Apple had its chance back in 1988 to popularize FireWire. Yes, 1988, when they developed the standard. I don't know of any PC mobos with built-in FireWire, but EVERYBODY has USB. Manufacturers aren't going to spend an extra $20 on a FireWire controller chip for each mobo, so FireWire's never going to be "the standard."
On a side note, Apple's new "Apple Display Connector" is probably the dumbest thing I've seen, but they got one thing right: SQUEEZE CLIPS! Why do I have to spend 45 seconds unscrewing my fscking VGA and DVI connectors? Why not a goddamn squeeze clip like in Wide SCSI?
Quick! Before DVI becomes too widespread, somebody convince the guys/gals in charge to adopt squeeze clips on the DVI connector.
Asa
2) Buy four video projectors and construct a 180-degree, curved, wraparound screen, ala "Toys." Preferably wear shutter glasses in addition.
3) ~20fps @ 320x240 on a Voodoo3? It's no GeForce DDR, but c'mon... somebody oughta optimize games/drivers for dual-head gaming.
Remember when there were NO surprises, no innovation? When nobody cared? Nowadays, you can go, "How about that G4 Cube?" and suddenly, you're having a Discussion About Cool Hardware.
Did you ever hear a guy/gal go, "Boy! That Power Mac 6500 is somethin' else, isn't it? What I wouldn't do to get THAT thing on my desk..!"
No. You didn't.
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