Valentine's Day Special: Love Hurts

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tomshardware.com/column/20030214/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.tomshardware.com/column/...0214/index.html</a><br /><br /></div>This doesn't directly relate to Pocket PCs, but I loved the article so much I wanted to pass it along. It's a great smackdown to the tech industry in general, and reminds everyone who dubs themselves "media" that they need to keep a balanced view based on reality, not on their pet peeves in the industry. Give it a read!<br /><br />"Freaks, geeks, and fanboys need love, too. Yet, they're having their hearts broken by the very ones they most adore. Why does love have to be so cruel, AMD? Why does it hurt so much, NVIDIA? Even your more respected enthusiast sites are burying their heads in the sand, and pining for days of yore. Does anyone realize that it's 2003?! Shouldn't enthusiasts adapt to the changing times, too?"

[Rirath]

I'm all for a good cynical rant, but I can't agree with a word said in this long winded speech. Sounds to me the writer just has a few PC vs Console issues as well as several other to work out. The Xbox absolutely did not kill the PC. The same argument has been made and rehashed over and over again since the beginning of the video game.

Geesh... if you say a company is wrong you're a blaming flamer. If you say a company is right you're an apologist. There's no winning with people like this.

But, be glad that you can blame Microsoft for the real problems facing AMD: Microsoft killed the PC when it built the Xbox, and that is what we should be focusing on.

He goes on to say Bill was paranoid and couldn't stand Sony stealing the spotlight. :roll: Yeah, this guy's real non bias.

and just because paranoid Gates couldn't hack the idea that Sony was going to replace the PC in the home with a PS2, something that was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the whole company pushed its gaming strategy towards PC lite, the Xbox.

The Xbox has become a pretty big success with it's users. And even though I personally don't have one or want one at the moment, I congrat MS. Look at our gaming poll in the forums. Still, the PC is still the PC. It's core market is still the same, FPS games, RTS games, games like the Sims which made up like 5 of the top 10 games of 2k2. The mass market and the hardcore appeal is the same as ever. It was a good year for PC gaming and this will be a good year for PC gaming.

[PlayAgain?]

I think the last paragraph sums it all up quite nice;

Then there's heartbreak number five. Of course, none of this ranting would have been at all necessary if I had any reason to rejoice on this Valentine's Day. But, like I care what anyone thinks. Wish there were more people who didn't care. Just like the old days, before the dinosaurs, nimble raptors that they may be, took up residence.

I think that any swipes taken in this piece are secondary to the primary message which he is trying to get across; "Get real!"

It's a message to everyone who lives, breathes, drinks, worships and adores boxes of wires. Heck, I blush to this day at some of my previous rants and flames on various forums. The bottom line is, it's not that important and though painful, the lesson is well worth learning.

Microsoft shafts, Sony proprietrises and Nokia announce more phones than you can shake a stick at. Who cares? Sure, it's interesting and yes, it's exciting (at times), but I'd rather have cause to celebrate love and friendship on any day of the week than a new PDA, Phone or combined device which will be out of fashion in a few weeks, out of support in a few months and out of my door in a few years.

After spending hours a day playing SimCity, I asked myself, "what have I achieved?". I've not communicated with any real people, I've not learned anything (except maybe how do plan a city: whoop-de-doo!), I've not developed. Then I think of the money I've spent getting new toys and how angry I got when people bragged one technology as better than another.

In the scheme of things, it doesn't matter. It's your livelyhood? Great! It's mine too, but when you consider that our taxes are going to be spent on bombing some poor souls off the face of the planet (innocent people always get caught up in war, whether the war is justified or not), that there are still people starving on our streets and sleeping in doorways, when there are still children being killed for convenience, the fact that I want more RAM and GPRS in my Communicator isn't important and getting wound up because someone spins yarns in order to win an argument over who has the best phone doesn't even register.

We all need to keep learning, and keep being teachable.....

Just like I'm going to have to be when I'm told that I've gone off topic with this post...... Sorry!

:oops:

[RobertCF]

I just don't get the point, I suppose. I mean, one of my DoD clan mates purchased an XBox for his kids, and though I've never been a console game fan, I figured I'd at least see what the hype was about. And I discovered, quite simply, that "hype" accurately describes it. One-trick-pony, dedicated PC is basically what it was. I get a much better look and performance out of my PC on the games, period. Was it really convenient to turn the thing on and be ready to play quickly? Sure was. But any one of my single-player games is as good or better on my PC than on the console. Not to mention the fact that I can do all my music and video studio work on my PC AND do my taxes AND do my word processing, yada yada yada. Consoles killing the PC? Not a chance. After giving the XBox a few hours, it's reinforced my opinion that it's a kids' toy--a very cook kids toy--but if your only ambition in life is to sit in single-player (don't get me started on the stupid "multiple controllers" joke) land for the rest of your life, then more power to ya. I suppose if I had any complaint at all it would be that some titles have been produced for the consoles without a corresponding PC version. But I'm not about to go out and throw my money away on a "dumb terminal of the gaming world" just to get a title or two.