On 2000-09-01 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <Yolanda> said:
>The people I know who buy new machines rather than second hand
>machines, or who upgrade from their old second hand machines to new
>ones, invariably cite gaming or streaming multimedia as the reason.
>They want the newest virtual reality, raw action, detailed back
>grounds, first person shooter networked blood bath and they want it
>to run as fast as real time.
When and where does the craving for more intense excitement end? What
ever happened to one of the most common lessons of history, the Fall of
the Roman Empire? Remember how in the latter days of that empire they
craved the gory excitement of the Circus where gladiators and helpless
victims' cruel deaths "entertained" the wealthy classes? The only
difference today is the medium. The principle remains the same.
>The desire for more realistic games and more video resolution and
>to have live video chat are much more the driving force behind the
>technological upgrading. People want their computers to be as rich
>as their TV, as fast as a light switch, and fully interactive.
>They don't want to sit and wait five minutes for their spreadsheet
>to do an array calculation. They want to be able to create detailed
>graphics in no more time than it takes to choose the commands. We
>can sit and theorize on the nasty capitalists all we like, but the
>common man is the demand producer who encourages and supports them
>in the first place.
Capitalism is one thing, and consumerism is another. By consumerism,
I prefer to think of the following principle, which it espouses (and
is not the usual definition for it, I admit):
"I have, therefore I am."
It is an utterly passive state of mind. What we possess should not
qualify our identity. Rather, what we *do* is a greater force in
forming personal identity.
What does this have to do with DOS, some might think? Well, with
DOS (and this can be true with Linux, too) the individual has more
control of what he's doing. I think it's easy to see how Windows
differs. (But I don't want to go into a Windows bashing session,
which I believe is entirely unnecessary here.)
>it was gaming and pornography that took the
>web beyond text, and it is those things which will take computers
>into the 21st century as pocket sized multimedia interfaces.
Sorry, but I don't find such an impetus ennobling.
Jerry [o - - ] IBM PC/AT 5170/enhanced [--^~---] 9600 kbps
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