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Old 10-12-2011, 12:37 PM   #11
twillight
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatty View Post
Well it looks like Abandonia is also encouraging the development of a new, stronger, better hardware, for all its being a comfy site for old Dos games
Stronger? Yes.

Better? No.
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Old 10-12-2011, 03:20 PM   #12
DarthHelmet86
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Yeah cause all that new hardware is so horrid and crap. And this is all a scam to just get more money out of the user. Lets all go back to using a Tandy Word Processor and never look back. I love the idea of having an old computer around to look back on, bust it out during parties and play some games on it that are hard to emulate on newer PCs, but I would never give up my new technology computer to have it. Cause every part in my new computer is just better and more powerful, not to mention I remember how much of a bitch some of my old computers were.
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Old 10-12-2011, 04:30 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by DarthHelmet86 View Post
Yeah cause all that new hardware is so horrid and crap. And this is all a scam to just get more money out of the user. Lets all go back to using a Tandy Word Processor and never look back. I love the idea of having an old computer around to look back on, bust it out during parties and play some games on it that are hard to emulate on newer PCs, but I would never give up my new technology computer to have it. Cause every part in my new computer is just better and more powerful, not to mention I remember how much of a bitch some of my old computers were.
I agree...

... but what I absolutely don't like is that the stuff that can (or could) be done with the old hardware are reinvented to need new powerfull hardware. At least as long its not connected to improved functionality or usability.

Looking at some really basic and simple programs (or websites) I used some years ago, that now need hardware that is a magnitude more powerful -without any real improvement in functionality- makes me wonder if it was really worth to invest in a new computer.

Most of the games here show what could be done with the very limited hardware of that time.
In my opinion, its sad to see what is done with the modern computers... compared how powerful they are compared to the old ones.
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Old 11-12-2011, 06:36 AM   #14
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You are quite right. But this is directly related to Windows Vista, which pretty much in practice doubled the requirement of your computer without adding any kind of practical usefulness in return...

But you know, I know it was sarcastical and all but DarthHelmet is right when he says that new hardware is kind of crap. You would not believe the number of people who don't understand why their new game they purchased work crappily on their brand new computer... Until I explain to them that unless the game they bought is specially coded to use both of their cores they don't really have a 3.2 mhz machine running the game requiring 2.4 but rather 1.6 mhz trying to run a game requiring 2.4 to run decently.

Just today I had to explain that to one of my extended family member... Again.

This is greatly due to bad representation of the hardware. Salesmen either not knowing what they are selling, not caring or simply trying to shove down the throat of customers what they don't really need. I experience this every time I enter a shop which is supposedly dedicated to two dozains things at once like for example Staples Business Depot... You pretty much could throw a 20 sided dice to take a guess at how much the guy dedicated to the electronics (computers are part of that section!) know about what they actually sell.

Add to this that multi-core machines have been wrongly given the spotlight about gaming since that "improvement" got out... It is very easy to get mislead.

I often think that the DOS era was actually way, way easier and less complicated that what we have today. At least in that time when someone told you something you could reliably expect to know exactly what he was talking about since everything was either the same or under some kind of standard. If only everything in new computers could be as genius as USB ports we would not have as many problems.
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Old 11-12-2011, 07:15 AM   #15
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Wait you blame the hardware when the software is badly programmed? What kind of weird thought process got you there? My brand new computer with its Quad core processor works fine with new games, using all the cores it has when it needs them. Brand new games barely even start to touch the power my computer has. So tell me these brand new games that aren't programmed to use more then one core? Cause I haven't run into them.

And if you are walking into a business that is all about selling all kinds of different things and wonder why they don't know a lot maybe you should, I don't know...go to a business who does specialise in computers and only computers.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:14 AM   #16
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I really think there has been some great progress on the hardware side.
Well... as a professional in computer hardware development I really can't have another opinion anyway... but on the other side comparing using my computers from ten years ago (not talking about twenty year old word processors or the home computers with a tape) with the recent ones is not such a big difference.

There has once been a time where I knew *why* to spend more money for a bigger computer, because you really could do something with it that the smaller/cheaper one could not deliver. I spent lots of money for special hardware (high end graphics cards, video digitizer cards, the very early computers even needed additional hardware to connect to a network or even a printer).
Today the situation changed - don't really know what the "standard" computer from the discounter can't do. And even why to buy a new one at all.
High end moderm games are almost the only answer to that. But in the end they are not 10 times more fun than the old ones just because they need 100 times more powerfull hardware.

After all I think the computer industry is usually no longer a really innovative one in the end. PCs are only "bulk material" today. With two exceptions (for private customers):
The first one to sell it over design and image. That is probably the reason for Apples success. They sell exactly the same stuff, but at least packaged nicer ant that allows them to make some people think its different and pay loads of money for it.
The second one is the gamers. Almost the only way to need a new fast computer or graphics card twice a year.

Don't tell me wrong... I really think there was good progress (USB mentioned was one even if it took years for the software to really support it), but for that long time, it is still disappointing for me.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:28 AM   #17
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There are plenty of people who need new computers every now and then...but every two years? Even as a gamer I have never needed that.

Any way anyone in animation, graphical design, game making, movie making, special effects, simulations, using high end programs for their work, people running servers, programmers, gamers and more then likely some more I cant think of often need to update their computers. Either because the programs they use need more power to do more things, or do things faster or just having more power will help them complete their work in a faster manner. If you are using a computer just to browse the net, or use Word or other low end programs then you don't need to update as often. The last computer I brought was over 5 years ago and it was only average for the time, my new one wont need to be updated for at least as long if not more.

A cheap computer might be able to do a lot of hardware related things that old computers need expensive parts for but there is plenty of software programs out there that need more power then what that cheap computer can bring to the table.

I have to compress videos for my Youtube channel, on my old computer this could take up to 30 to 40 minutes for a 15 minute video. My new computer does the same in 5 to 10 minutes. I could have stuck to using my old computer I would just have had to put up with slower speeds on my compression. Seems like a bloody good reason to me when it comes down to it.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:29 AM   #18
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Maybe the point with the "bulk material" sounds strange for most readers...

But remembering all the Ataris, Amigas, old Macs even (original) IBM PCs... I really think they all were not just some "faceless" throw-away hardware.

Maybe just a slight attack of "old nerd stating everything was better during the good old times".

I really don't miss the fights between dozens of incompatible systems, but what I miss is computers that you don't buy per weight.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:39 AM   #19
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The computers you listed were sold as set units, no changes made to them. They were in fact sold by weight if you like. (Well not all the time but mostly at least they were just sold as is and you couldn't get things changed). If you had an Atari 2600...that's what you had. Even my average computer allowed me to pick options for every part that came in it, upgrades and degrades and different options that you just wouldn't have got back then.
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Old 11-12-2011, 09:42 AM   #20
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What I was refering to is the "private" user. However... video compression is a good point if done often.
Those "prvate users" now even switch to Ipads instead of PCs (because it also does the job).

Sure, as a professional user (math and signal processing simulations, compiling FPGAs, electrical and field simulations), I also need (and have) plenty processing power installed. But I don't need to update as fast as I needed to some years ago - also there.
There have been times where I needed new machines each year. Now I can use them much longer.

Some of my friends who play the recent games (I don't) always have the latest hardware (they need to upgrade the graphics cards with *each* new generation to get the maximum effects and don't have to reduce quality or get unplayable slow speed).

Last edited by florianix; 11-12-2011 at 09:48 AM.
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