Thursday, April 01, 2010

iFail



** Link Fixed **

And /update - The Star Raiders guy sent me back a nice email. That's pretty cool.


Stephen Fry on the iPad.

I really don't get it. I don't get Apple.. I don't get Steve Jobs.. I don't get the desire to have a sub par personal computer.. and I don't get the point of having a phone that does more than place calls.

I like PC's. I like Windows 7, 64 bit. I like super fast CPU's, and robust hardware options. I like playing cutting edge games at blazing speeds. I like playing games on my computer, not my phone. I like reading pieces of paper when I'm interested in a book. I like my home theatre for watching movies. I like keyboards on a laptop when I'm away from home.

My first computer was an Atari 800, after having used an Atari 2600 gaming console until it was nearly broken from use. It was a brilliant piece of computing gear. I loved it. It's why I'm a software engineer today. I copied programs in BASIC from a computer magazine into the the machine. I was the alpha geek of the neighborhood and had all the best warez.

That period of time was a revolution in changing the idea of "leisure time". It was really magical and amazing. Kids born in the 80's really have no idea how cool it all was, and how we all imagined how awesome the future could be because of the new electronics.

I have vivid memories of my mother.. addicted to "Break Out", on the Atari 5200. It had an analog joystick. Star Raiders was staggering in it's awesomeness. If you used your imagination, it was sort of like playing Star Wars and Star Trek. There were lots of space ships involved.. and warping around.

Apple.. never.. not once.. ever factored into that cool age of computing as far as I was concerned. It was a fringe piece of silly gear that couldn't compete, and it was more akin to a religion than actual technology.

I still think that's what is going on today. Apple has never made a thing that I've wanted, and I simply don't understand why other people do.

....

Star Raiders was also criticized at the time for the violent gameplay.[1] In 2007, it was included in a list of the 10 most important video games of all time.[2]

/update

After I wrote this post, I followed links to an interview with the guy that created Star Raiders.

Where did the vision for "Star Raiders" come from?

The movie Star Wars had come out right around that time. So I wanted to combine Star Wars with the text-based "Star Trek" Game.

I just sent him an email. The internet is an awesome thing.

3 comments:

Dan said...

Your Ipad link is broken...unless you meant it to go to Doug's blog.

Kor said...

Your link is the wrong one, same as the one from the previous post.

Tom said...

Thanks.. I fixed the link. Shit like that happens when I post twice without confirming I ctrl-c correctly..