I'm watching the Nasa briefing right now. Sounds like they noticed that a piece of debris impacted the left wing of the orbiter on launch. They're not saying this was the cause. But they did report that the initial sensor fluctuations occurred in the left wing area of the orbiter. Sounds to me like the debris caused a heat shield problem that lead to a catastrophic failure.
In any case, I don't think this should or will stop the manned space program. All flight is dangerous. Space flight is no exception. Commercial aircraft are lost more frequently than spacecraft (it would be interesting to compare the relative statistics as a ratio of flights to crashes) and with a much higher death toll. Yet when an airliner goes down with 20, 80, or 200 people onboard, nobody is shouting for the FAA to stop all air travel. People make mistakes, and then we learn from them. This is the way it has always been, the way it always will be. To allow ourselves to be defeated, and our progress to be eroded because of our mistakes, would be the biggest tragedy of all.
-JE
Well that's true.. as I said, CDTV and CDI were around back then. As for companies like Sony and Philips, these are the companies that invented CD media.. so it's a little more reasonable that they would be looking for applications for it other than CD Audio. I'm not saying they guy didn't think it up.. I'm just saying the logic seems a little "off". CD-ROM drives were expensive, and so were PC parts. In any case I would think that a small (price equiv.) HD would have been more usefull. Though I can see your point on copy protection.
-JE
Your name... is Jim.
CD-ROM drives in 1991
on
The 1991 "X-Box"
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· Score: 3, Interesting
The one thing I find odd about this design is the use of a CD-ROM drive. In 1991 CD-ROM media was very scarce as I recall. Almost all programs were distributed on disk. I built my first PC in 1993 (Amiga and ST prior to that) and it didn't have a CD-ROM drive for some time CD Burners were extremely expensive (thousands) and were the size of a large home stereo amplifier. As I recall, most software was distributed on 3.5 inch disk well into 1994... right?
So in 1991, the inclusion of a CD-ROM on this device was intended as either: 1) A very expensive cup holder. 2) A device a waaay ahead of its time. Or 3) A hoax.
While in 1991(ish) there were the failed initiatives of Commodore (CDTV) and Philips (CDI) to make CD-ROM based "Edutainment" consoles, the huge advantage of using a PC as the innards of the device would be lost because of the relative obscurity of CD-ROM media on the PC platform.
I tried Red Octane for a few months and the service was mediocre... good selection but poor availability.
I'm now using getanygame.com. Their selection isn't quite as good as Red Octane, but the service and response time has been excellent.
Getanygame also has a feature that lets you submit your old games to rent out to other users... sort of a P2P type thing. I sent them a few games that I no longer play and so far I've made 8 bucks... better than a kick in the teeth:P
-JE
I've been getting emails from Exodus all day reporting intermittent loss of connectivity in all Exodus IDCs due to heavy congestion at UUNET peers.
I can access everything with no problem, but I'm sitting about 5 miles from the IDC, which is in Irvine CA.
Just think.. somewhere out there, a group of UUNET engineers are having their asses reamed right now... i can almost feel it..
-JE
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In any case, I don't think this should or will stop the manned space program. All flight is dangerous. Space flight is no exception. Commercial aircraft are lost more frequently than spacecraft (it would be interesting to compare the relative statistics as a ratio of flights to crashes) and with a much higher death toll. Yet when an airliner goes down with 20, 80, or 200 people onboard, nobody is shouting for the FAA to stop all air travel. People make mistakes, and then we learn from them. This is the way it has always been, the way it always will be. To allow ourselves to be defeated, and our progress to be eroded because of our mistakes, would be the biggest tragedy of all. -JE
Well that's true.. as I said, CDTV and CDI were around back then. As for companies like Sony and Philips, these are the companies that invented CD media.. so it's a little more reasonable that they would be looking for applications for it other than CD Audio. I'm not saying they guy didn't think it up.. I'm just saying the logic seems a little "off". CD-ROM drives were expensive, and so were PC parts. In any case I would think that a small (price equiv.) HD would have been more usefull. Though I can see your point on copy protection. -JE Your name... is Jim.
So in 1991, the inclusion of a CD-ROM on this device was intended as either: 1) A very expensive cup holder. 2) A device a waaay ahead of its time. Or 3) A hoax.
While in 1991(ish) there were the failed initiatives of Commodore (CDTV) and Philips (CDI) to make CD-ROM based "Edutainment" consoles, the huge advantage of using a PC as the innards of the device would be lost because of the relative obscurity of CD-ROM media on the PC platform.
-JE
Computer, destruct sequence one, code one, one A.
Now it's time to rig on to a kite at the beach ;)
I'm now using getanygame.com. Their selection isn't quite as good as Red Octane, but the service and response time has been excellent.
Getanygame also has a feature that lets you submit your old games to rent out to other users... sort of a P2P type thing. I sent them a few games that I no longer play and so far I've made 8 bucks... better than a kick in the teeth :P
-JE
It can't be all that bad... as long as the donkey works.. mmmm donkey...
I've been getting emails from Exodus all day reporting intermittent loss of connectivity in all Exodus IDCs due to heavy congestion at UUNET peers. I can access everything with no problem, but I'm sitting about 5 miles from the IDC, which is in Irvine CA. Just think.. somewhere out there, a group of UUNET engineers are having their asses reamed right now... i can almost feel it.. -JE