A Rememberance of Things Past
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 09:10
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The first Pentium was 1993. So the 486 computers, which seem so lame now, are around 15 years old. On the other hand our old 700 MHz iMac G4, which is five years old, still seems quite up to date. We don't play very demanding games on it, but it runs a few games with quite impressive graphics very well (clever programming on somebody's part). I guess the main point is that it runs the current version of Mac OS X, so it looks just the same as the latest Apple machines. So is it that computer obsolescence only really starts to cut in hard sometime after 5 years, or that computer obsolescence has slowed dramatically now compared to 10 years ago, or that 21st century Macs in particular have attained a sort of quality plateau where obsolescence is slower for them than for other machines? -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 6700
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 11:36
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My first computer used a daisy-wheel printer. My contribution to the memory of things past is that most significant, surprisingly high-quality listening medium that created an entire industry. Let's face it, if you didn't have one of these growing up, you missed out on the greatest experience in technology and music one can possibly have. Behold:  For all of the wonderful clarity and technological convieniece that CDs and mp3s bring, I still miss my LPs. I really do. -------------------- The Silent Assassin presents the following evidence: two carrots, a red velvet glove, and a pair of cement blocks that he claims were Jimmy Hoffa's shoes. He has yet to persuade me that he hasn't been the one sneaking the ice cream. -------------------- -Lenar Labs What's Your Destiny? Ushmushmeifa: Lenar's power is almighty and ineffable. All hail lord Noric, god of... well, something important, I'm sure. Posts: 735 | Registered: Monday, January 16 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 11:56
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There are still audiophiles who claim that vinyl gave better sound than the various digital media available, but I find that dubious. There are a few records that I'm quite fond of, but most of them have been turned into CDs. In addition to being more durable, the changing times mean that I have far better equipment for playing CDs (or MP3s) than I ever did for records. —Alorael, who still has a happily functioning 450 Mhz G4 Cube from 2000. It's now no longer doing any heavy work, but it's perfectly fine for most everyday tasks and those programs that just won't run in Classic and require OS 9. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Master
Member # 5977
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 12:13
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You have a Cube? I never understood the fact that such a beautifull piece of art and such an electronic masterpiece wasn't very populair. I'm, to be honest, very sorry for Apple it didn't work out... -------------------- Play and rate my scenarios: Where the rivers meet View my upcoming scenario: The Nephil Search: Escape. Give us your drek! Posts: 3029 | Registered: Saturday, June 18 2005 07:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 12:41
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quote:I think it's just that, as you say, you're not running anything really demanding on it. I used a Performa 450 for a decade and it worked just fine for what I needed it for. Macs have always been able to run versions of the Mac OS that came out later than the computers themselves. Even the humble Mac Plus can run System 7.5.5. [ Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:43: Message edited by: Cryptozoology ] -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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By Committee
Member # 4233
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 15:04
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My G3 iBook from 2002 is still humming along too, though it's been relegated pretty much to MP3 hosting duties. If it wasn't for that blasted logic board problem, it would likely play a more prominent role in my life. Posts: 2242 | Registered: Saturday, April 10 2004 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 18:55
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It's mostly Microsoft that makes technology become outdated so quickly. Just look at the requirements to run Vista on an older system. Even back when Microsoft was first selling operating systems the complaint was that an IBM PC could do so much more if the space wasn't tied up using Microsoft DOS. I listened to an IBM salesman showing off a new product and he was doing great until he had to mention how much memory was used to run it. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 19:54
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A computer would have lots more resources available for other tasks if it had no operating system. —Alorael, who is not about to uninstall OS X, and that's not just because he no longer has the install disk. Nor is he about to uninstall Windows (VPC, you know), and not just because he never had an install disk in the first place. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 21:40
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I wouldn't recommend removing the operating system. It was just back in the early 80's the chief wish was that there was an alternative operating system that took up less memory so that more could be done with the hardware. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Thursday, February 1 2007 23:09
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quote:The trend in computing seems to have gone toward ease of use/development at the cost of performance. Just consider Object-Orientation - software projects can be planned and maintained far more efficiently, but it can never beat a Fortran program in speed. -------------------- Encyclopaedia Ermariana • Forum Archives • Forum Statistics • RSS [Topic / Forum] My Blog • Polaris • I eat novels for breakfast. Polaris is dead, long live Polaris. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 247
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written Friday, February 2 2007 00:33
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quote:That's why you fabricate sources and quotes. ;) -------------------- The Knight Between Posts. Posts: 2395 | Registered: Friday, November 2 2001 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Friday, February 2 2007 06:23
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By Aran: quote:However, you still have to use FORTRAN, so you still lose. :P Really, you've got the computing power, so why not flaunt it? -------------------- Here's to democracy. May we get the government we deserve. - Rick Mercer Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 7331
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written Friday, February 2 2007 11:37
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Since this thread seems appropriate for my question, I will ask: What has happened to all of the older Spiderwebbers? When I joined, there was always a post from MagmaDragoon or Mr. Bookworm or SOMEBODY ELSE WHO HAS NOW DISAPPEARED. Is this a matter of PDNs? Or something else? -------------------- You Shall Die Laughing: http://www.worfthecat.ermarian.net/converted The Roost: www.roost01.proboards104.com. Birds of a feather flock together. Posts: 794 | Registered: Thursday, July 27 2006 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Friday, February 2 2007 11:48
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Originally by Sarasaphilia: quote:For some reason, that's hilarious. People leave for lots of reasons: they become too busy in RL to post here, they get bored and move on, they get banned, they get abducted by aliens, and so on. Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Dollop of Whipped Cream
Member # 391
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written Friday, February 2 2007 12:26
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quote:It's incredibly hilarious. it's worse than calling me an oldbie. :P -------------------- "Tyranicus is about the only one that still posts in the Nethergate Forum." —Randomizer Spiderweb Chat Room Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 562 | Registered: Friday, December 14 2001 08:00 |
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Agent
Member # 2759
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written Friday, February 2 2007 12:35
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Well, newcomers could be excused for mistaking you for an oldbie, what with your (begged, borrowed or stolen) account number... -------------------- "I can't read this thread with that image. But then, that's not a complaint." -Scorpius Geneforge 4 stuff. Also, everything I know about Avernum | Avernum 2 | Avernum 3 | Avernum 4 Posts: 1104 | Registered: Monday, March 10 2003 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Friday, February 2 2007 12:47
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quote:Is this what it is about Apple products that creates such a fanatical following? I love using tools, and I have quite a collection of original art, but I've never dreamed of tools being viewed as artwork. (This isn't a start to a flamewar) Is this why people that own Apples do own them? And why the rest of us don't? Could it simply be that part of society prefers to have aesthetically pleasing tools, and the rest don't? Maybe some sociology grad student could set up a research project to discern if the functional tools in an Apple home are of one type, and the PC home owns a different type. If this is the case, then the rift will never be closed. If in fact there ever was a rift. After all, (except for some Pentiums) math equations can be solved equally well on either machine. -------------------- quote: Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Dollop of Whipped Cream
Member # 391
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written Friday, February 2 2007 12:48
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quote:Touché, sir. :P -------------------- "Tyranicus is about the only one that still posts in the Nethergate Forum." —Randomizer Spiderweb Chat Room Shadow Vale - My site, home of the Spiderweb Chat Database, BoA Scenario Database, & the A1 Quest List, among other things. Posts: 562 | Registered: Friday, December 14 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Friday, February 2 2007 13:07
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I don't find the Cube particularly appealing. It's not an eyesore and it's not large, which means I can put it in a living room without offending guests, but it's just a white plastic box. I got it for several reasons: I was already a Mac user and didn't want to switch, it was relatively portable for a Desktop (at the time I though it would be practical to relocate it. It's easier than with a full tower, but I still didn't move it around much.) and it wasn't much more expensive other Macs since I already had a monitor and had no interest in cards and other improvements. —Alroael, who is not much of an aesthete. He thinks that most of Apple's fanatical devotion comes from its very solid operating system, great software (what there is of it), and underdog aura. The endless brushed aluminum and white plastic looks nice in commercials, but it all tends to be a magnet for dirt and scuff marks. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Friday, February 2 2007 19:26
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Magma Dragoon (renamed Guardian Magma) left to study and play Geneforge 1 and 4. I thought that he would be back by now. You really have to watch PDN changes. Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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Shock Trooper
Member # 5545
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written Friday, February 2 2007 20:04
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I assumed Magma Dragoon left simply because discussions about Geneforge waned after nearly every Mac user who intended to purchase it had played it through. Previous to my recent interest in the General section of the forums, I really only posted when G3 and G4 came out. I assumed it was a common phenomenon. -------------------- Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. Posts: 344 | Registered: Friday, February 25 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 3220
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written Friday, February 2 2007 20:10
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quote:You know, I always did mean to ask what you did for that number, but I was afraid the answer might ruin my innocence forever. Posts: 437 | Registered: Sunday, July 13 2003 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Friday, February 2 2007 20:15
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The way I see it, Mac users see their PCs as cohesive wholes, while x86ers are more likely to see their PCs as a bunch of components hooked together. The same holds for software: one of the 'PC vs. Mac' commercials' main points is that PCs don't come bundled with the same software that Macs do. Meh. For most of what I do, I'm content with operating from bash. -------------------- They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. And unfortunately, it is also the definition of Canadian politics. - Rick Mercer Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Raven v. Writing Desk
Member # 261
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written Friday, February 2 2007 20:29
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I think you're right, Overlord. Dareva, it's good to see you again! And more to the point, here's why Macs are Catholic and PCs are Protestant, according to Umberto Eco: http://jowett.web.cern.ch/jowett/EcoMACDOS.htm -------------------- Slarty vs. Desk • Desk vs. Slarty • Timeline of Ermarian • G4 Strategy Central Posts: 3560 | Registered: Wednesday, November 7 2001 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 3220
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written Friday, February 2 2007 20:35
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Thanks! I always come back eventually, Slarty, even when I say I won't. This time, I actually have a purpose, though. The Catholic/Protestant angle was one I hadn't thought of. I used to read a newsgroup, though, wherein one of the members had a link to a description of his dual boot Mac/Windows machine, which he called his bisexual computer, although he never specified which OS represented what. [ Friday, February 02, 2007 20:37: Message edited by: dareva ] Posts: 437 | Registered: Sunday, July 13 2003 07:00 |