I can't help but believe that it takes a real computer nerd (like myself) to truly appreciate a superior computer set-up.

Some people will build an amazing system just for bragging rights, and hardly use it. Some will build a basic system for work, or school, and it's good enough for them, so they don't understand the hype of a system which is tuned to the cutting edge of state-of-the-art technology, and for as much as such systems cost, every dollar that can be saved is a triumph to the objective.

But to a true computer nerd, the kind of person who was around (and reminisces of) the times when "RPG" meant a letter on a screen of ASCII characters moving around with arrow keys and following text-based command prompts, in DOS or pre-DOS OS no less, and the "internet" wasn't yet named, for it was just barely being formed, computers are amazing prodigies, children of the mind, so to speak.

The author humbly numbers himself among this select crowd, although my age barely allows for this membership. I am perhaps more accurately a child of the aforementioned society, and yet I recall bouncing on my fathers knee as he became a pioneer of the self-same breed to which I have alluded. I was a living-flesh, human guinea pig, unashamedly... I tested said text-RPGs in their culmination, I experienced the battle between IBM and Apple to see who could create a computer that would crash less frequently... that is, after the Commodore and other notorious systems made their debut.

I consider this because it awes me how this society has developed, to leave those select few behind... it use to be that computers and electronics in general were novelties, reserved for the "brains" of society, to tinker with in a lab or behind a desk somewhere on the peripherals of accepted, social society. And yet... with the integration of many such devices in everyday use now, and corporate management powering marketing schemes to reach a vastly more numerous audience, the entire culture has changed. Rather than appealing to (rightly, if I may opine) the intellectual elite, now software is geared towards the "user-friendly." "Customizable" is essentially a bad word, synonymous with "complex" which has somehow, somewhere over the course of the past few decades become a similar distasteful concept. Brain-use isn't considered as worthwhile as, say, convenience.

That's all well and good, and this isn't another post down-crying peoples' apparent inclination to avoid using their minds whenever possible. The problem, as I see it, is that games (for I am a gamer) are less challenging, less intellectually stimulating. Less... goofy, at times. Less focused on what CAN BE and more focused on what... sells. I type the last word of the previous sentence with such distaste that it is nearly palpable. It's not that I detest capitalism - that's a subject for another journal entirely, at least - it's that, combined with the previous sentiments, carries an undeniable implication that corporations have exploited a public desire to whore our minds out for the sake of being "entertained" and "amused," by offering inferior products as a cash-cow.

To most of those who might come across this in passing, I'm not making a whole lot of sense right now. Bear with me for just one moment.

Go back to a NES, if you can lay your hands on one. If not, I fully support ROMs for systems which have been discontinued, regardless of legality. If something desired is no longer being offered by the original supplier, people can and should be allowed to manufacture and produce said product for themselves. In any case... play the original Super Mario Brothers. Now play the equivalent version on the SNES. Then the N64. Then the Wii.

With me now? Rinse and repeat with the Metroid series. Final Fantasy. Zelda. &etc&etc.

Games get progressively easier, frequently shorter, and overall the only thing you will see that consistently improves is the graphics. Yes, we've come a long way in technology... to the point where we are just on the cusp of being able to make believably life-like ANIMATIONS, and sell them as movies. To the point where hologram projectors as made famous by "Star Trek" are becoming reality, and likewise, mental impulses can be used to interface with electronic devices reliably (though, expensively.) I find it thusly disappointing that with such leaps and bounds, we are unable to market commercial products to the masses which appeal to intellect and guile more than visual stimulation.

I've noticed on forums around the internet and in common discourse that there are those who agree with my sentiments. How do we make the corporations who now drive the technology aware of this? Or, am I the unfortunate survivor of a "niche market" which was once the driven motivation which created the potential for all which is possible today? The thought saddens me.




On a tangent, I just splurged on a present for myself which I will enjoy for the next few weeks. It's a wireless gaming mouse & keyboard... nothing special there, but there are a few neat quirks which make it one of the best available today (according to reviews and subject to my opinion, of course.) I've been looking for a new wireless set since my last one had connectivity issues at barely 2 feet away... and this seems to fit the bill. Check it out here, if you're interested:

[link]

There's a very good chance I'll be deploying to Iraq come January. When I return, I'll be picking up a nice little laptop and a different wireless mouse to accompany it... as my new job at General Electric will benefit from such tools. The laptop will be determined by current offerings upon my return, but you can see the mouse, here:

[link]


Granted, not the latest and greatest, but it's worth considering that staying slightly behind the freshest curve of technology allows kinks to be worked out and reviews to crop up before one buys a potential dud... for in evolution, there are always duds, and technology is nothing if not evolutionary by nature.

Thanks for listening... I'm gone for now.