I miss DesqView. Like you, I ran a multinode BBS on pretty plain hardware (386SX-16 w/ 4 MB RAM in my case) thanks to DesqView and QEMM386. Those were the days! As you said, DV was great stuff, as long as you knew what you were doing.
I just finally bought my first HDTV last month (my old TV finally died). After researching a bit, I bought an LED-backlit LCD TV and a Blu-ray player. And you're right, in addition to the image quality being great, having networking built in is awesome. I have access to You-Tube, Netflix, Vudu, and a slew of other services all right from the TV and the Blu-ray player both. I'm looking forward to when Hulu Plus will be available on the TV (or maybe I'll break down a buy a Roku or some other device that offers it). When I get Hulu Plus, I'm cutting the cable and never looking back.
Anyway, I'm very happy I wasn't an early adopter of HDTV. My coworkers who were have sets with a single HDMI jack, no built-in networking, less contrast, and image blurring when things move quickly. And they paid five times as much for theirs!
I'm treating 3D the same way. If it's around in five years, I'll consider upgrading. But for now, forget it. Who knows what the standard will eventually be? Who know whether it's just a fad or if it will stick around? And who knows what improvements are on the horizon?
That's true. In 1984, though, he could easily have written about the kids in their bedrooms learning how to program using their Commodores, Ataris, TIs, Apples, etc. rather than about Sierra, a commercial enterprise that turns out to be of little historical significance. While it just so happens that those kids in their bedrooms grew up to dominate the world of computing...
I think video games are like any other product, in that most of them aren't going to stand the test of time -- but some will. Take movies, for instance. For every "timeless classic" that we still enjoy watching 50 years after it came out, there were a hundred or more that deserve to rot in some film vault.
It's the same with video games.
Pac-Man, Tetris, and Galaga will always be good games.
As for M.U.L.E., it always appealed to only a subset of gamers. It's about economics, it's about competition, and it's most fun when you're playing it face-to-face against three of your friends. For the gamer who only likes shooters (whether we're talking Doom or Space Invaders), M.U.L.E. will seem boring.
But for the people for whom it was made, it's still a good game. It is to me, anyway.
No, no, no! They're just trying to help you by encouraging you to be responsible for your own future. In the past, the company was stealing your opportunity to be fully responsible for your retirement. Now, they feel bad about that, and are giving that responsibility back to you. It's time to celebrate!
Next month, they're going to stop stealing your opportunity to work twice as hard for half as much pay. It's a glorious future that your corporate masters have planned for you. Celebrate, slave, celebrate!
As I understand it, Christianity descended from Judaism, and Islam descended from both. That is, all three believe in one supreme God, that Moses led his people to the promised land, etc.
Christians believe that someone (Jesus) came along and gave an updated/corrected version of the Word of God to the world.
Muslims believe that there was a version 3.0 that was delivered by God through Mohammad.
And all the followers of all three religions have been killing one another ever since.
My desert island game is Lux (http://sillysoft.net/lux/) - it's like Risk, only a ton better, with hundreds of custom maps, clever AI, and online multiplayer capabilities. I've played the game literally thousands of times, but I still go back to it when I'm bored...which I imagine would be quite frequent on a desert island!
[...]shortly after the launch of Dungeon magazine (which would be something like 17 years ago, right?)
Geez, has it really been that long? Let's see. We both started reading Dragon in, what, 1983 or something like that? That would be 24 years ago. Yikes!
Heck, even my time of writing for Imperium Games' Marc Miller's Traveller was 10 years ago now.
And I haven't been to a GenCon in about that long.
My first issue of Dragon Magazine was #68. While I have long since stopped reading the mag, I enjoyed it immensely at the time (back when Gary Gygax was still regularly writing for it). While it has changed unrecognizably in the intervening years, it's still sad to hear that this last vestige of this once great magazine is to cease to be. What would Woimy say?
It may not be that hard, but I don't think you're taking into account just how disinterested in computers the average computer user really is.
The average user doesn't know the difference between Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Most don't know what an email client is. Most don't know what the difference is between Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer. Most don't know what version of Windows they're running. Most don't know anything about the hardware inside their computer case; they just know the brand. Etc.
It might be that most college students use bit torrent. It might be that most computer enthusiasts use bit torrent. But it's definitely not true that most Internet users use bit torrent. They wouldn't know that it exists, let alone what they could do with it.
(By the way, I'm not knocking regular users. They're not interested in this stuff, and I respect that. Everyone has different interests.)
Throttle back some protocol that only a few of their customers have even heard of, or keep the average user from having a good experience. Hmm. Tough choice.
The only way they'll ever solve this one is to go to the source: Microsoft. Once that beast is no longer producing the tools criminals need, the Internet will be safe.
Slashdot Mirror
Nice one. I wish I had mod points.
AAPL fall down, go BOOM!
Actually, there might not be much effect this time. Maybe investors are getting used to this.
I miss DesqView. Like you, I ran a multinode BBS on pretty plain hardware (386SX-16 w/ 4 MB RAM in my case) thanks to DesqView and QEMM386. Those were the days! As you said, DV was great stuff, as long as you knew what you were doing.
I just finally bought my first HDTV last month (my old TV finally died). After researching a bit, I bought an LED-backlit LCD TV and a Blu-ray player. And you're right, in addition to the image quality being great, having networking built in is awesome. I have access to You-Tube, Netflix, Vudu, and a slew of other services all right from the TV and the Blu-ray player both. I'm looking forward to when Hulu Plus will be available on the TV (or maybe I'll break down a buy a Roku or some other device that offers it). When I get Hulu Plus, I'm cutting the cable and never looking back.
Anyway, I'm very happy I wasn't an early adopter of HDTV. My coworkers who were have sets with a single HDMI jack, no built-in networking, less contrast, and image blurring when things move quickly. And they paid five times as much for theirs!
I'm treating 3D the same way. If it's around in five years, I'll consider upgrading. But for now, forget it. Who knows what the standard will eventually be? Who know whether it's just a fad or if it will stick around? And who knows what improvements are on the horizon?
If we can't bribe our children to eat poison, the terrorists have won!
I'm aware of what Sierra accomplished, but it doesn't change the fact that all of it is of little historical significance.
That's true. In 1984, though, he could easily have written about the kids in their bedrooms learning how to program using their Commodores, Ataris, TIs, Apples, etc. rather than about Sierra, a commercial enterprise that turns out to be of little historical significance. While it just so happens that those kids in their bedrooms grew up to dominate the world of computing...
Why can't they just download them for free like everyone else?
I was reading your post on my Blackberry while sipping some Starbucks when I realized you're right!
That's a pretty broad statement, isn't it?
I think video games are like any other product, in that most of them aren't going to stand the test of time -- but some will. Take movies, for instance. For every "timeless classic" that we still enjoy watching 50 years after it came out, there were a hundred or more that deserve to rot in some film vault.
It's the same with video games.
Pac-Man, Tetris, and Galaga will always be good games.
As for M.U.L.E., it always appealed to only a subset of gamers. It's about economics, it's about competition, and it's most fun when you're playing it face-to-face against three of your friends. For the gamer who only likes shooters (whether we're talking Doom or Space Invaders), M.U.L.E. will seem boring.
But for the people for whom it was made, it's still a good game. It is to me, anyway.
No, no, no! They're just trying to help you by encouraging you to be responsible for your own future. In the past, the company was stealing your opportunity to be fully responsible for your retirement. Now, they feel bad about that, and are giving that responsibility back to you. It's time to celebrate!
Next month, they're going to stop stealing your opportunity to work twice as hard for half as much pay. It's a glorious future that your corporate masters have planned for you. Celebrate, slave, celebrate!
Let's see.
Games are on Blue-Ray.
Movies are on Blue-Ray.
If only the music industry would put their product on Blue-Ray, it would sell well, too!
Well done, Stoolpigeon. I laughed so hard, I broke my leg.
Dude, that's totally bogus. Chicks can't be warriors.
No 'Men Without Hats,' crashes Firefox on Mac OS X, lame.
You're correct.
As I understand it, Christianity descended from Judaism, and Islam descended from both. That is, all three believe in one supreme God, that Moses led his people to the promised land, etc.
Christians believe that someone (Jesus) came along and gave an updated/corrected version of the Word of God to the world.
Muslims believe that there was a version 3.0 that was delivered by God through Mohammad.
And all the followers of all three religions have been killing one another ever since.
But then, I'm an atheist, so what do I know?
My desert island game is Lux (http://sillysoft.net/lux/) - it's like Risk, only a ton better, with hundreds of custom maps, clever AI, and online multiplayer capabilities. I've played the game literally thousands of times, but I still go back to it when I'm bored...which I imagine would be quite frequent on a desert island!
[...]shortly after the launch of Dungeon magazine (which would be something like 17 years ago, right?)
Geez, has it really been that long? Let's see. We both started reading Dragon in, what, 1983 or something like that? That would be 24 years ago. Yikes!
Heck, even my time of writing for Imperium Games' Marc Miller's Traveller was 10 years ago now.
And I haven't been to a GenCon in about that long.
Man, I feel old.
My first issue of Dragon Magazine was #68. While I have long since stopped reading the mag, I enjoyed it immensely at the time (back when Gary Gygax was still regularly writing for it). While it has changed unrecognizably in the intervening years, it's still sad to hear that this last vestige of this once great magazine is to cease to be. What would Woimy say?
For example, you can use your Outlook address book with Thunderbird.
And Outlook also works with just about any mass mailing worm, virus, or trojan out there!
I'd like to see you try that with a web client!
Nope, I'm stickin' with Outlook.
Without John, how would I know what's not going to happen in the future?
It may not be that hard, but I don't think you're taking into account just how disinterested in computers the average computer user really is.
The average user doesn't know the difference between Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. Most don't know what an email client is. Most don't know what the difference is between Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer. Most don't know what version of Windows they're running. Most don't know anything about the hardware inside their computer case; they just know the brand. Etc.
It might be that most college students use bit torrent. It might be that most computer enthusiasts use bit torrent. But it's definitely not true that most Internet users use bit torrent. They wouldn't know that it exists, let alone what they could do with it.
(By the way, I'm not knocking regular users. They're not interested in this stuff, and I respect that. Everyone has different interests.)
Throttle back some protocol that only a few of their customers have even heard of, or keep the average user from having a good experience. Hmm. Tough choice.
Most users don't download torrents.
The only way they'll ever solve this one is to go to the source: Microsoft. Once that beast is no longer producing the tools criminals need, the Internet will be safe.
Nothing gets me "going" like Fiber One cereal. It's the bestest!
(Why they can't make a high-fiber cereal that is also nutritious and tasty is beyond me. It's flavorless and also has less vitamins than Cocoa Puffs.)