Disqus - Latest Comments for Jon_F

Re: Ed Borden: No Place for Windows in the Living Room Anymore

Jon_F — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:28:29 -0000

I remember an old science fiction story where someone was working on a computer program to automatically remove cigarettes and smoke from old movies. (Smoking was illegal or banned) Can't remember what they were substituting.

It possible now, isn’t it?

Re: Ed Borden: No Place for Windows in the Living Room Anymore

Jon_F — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:22:22 -0000

Another great topic...

I have an idea for an Apple ITunes commercial.

It's set about 80 years in the future. The scene is the reading of a will. Some rich old guy has died. As the lawyer goes around the room bestowing gifts of valuable property, stocks, etc, etc on each of the hopeful family members, each of them is strangely LET DOWN by their valuable inheritances. Then we get to the last award, it's to an early 20's guy. He gets the old guys ITUNES COLLECTION spanning over 90 years and millions of audio and video recordings. He jumps for joy as the others slump.

Picture what this could really mean 100 years from now as people collect and pass down their media libraries.
I may be old fashioned but why should I pay to watch (via the internet) a movie I already own on disk (or TAPE, yikes!).

While subscription services to vast libraries are great for ease of use, OWNING a centralized, searchable library of everything you have ever bought (or acquired legally ) is even more attractive.

This will be especially true as business economics and politics DECIDE FOR YOU that certain programs are not "economically viable" or "socially acceptable" enough to offer online anymore.

Even worse...
Stream a current copy of the Movie ET (The version "cleaned up" for it's 20th anniversary release). The feds who come to capture him and take him away are carrying walkie-talkies in their hands. Watch an early DVD or Tape of the movie... They’re carrying GUNS.

Alot of old cartoons will never be streamed again... Gone forever unless you own a copy.

Re: Ed Borden: Future Games Will Battle Over Physics, not Graphics

Jon_F — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:29:34 -0000

Wow, great topic. Reminds me of "Tastes Great / Less Filling" (which is more important?)

I wear glasses. My vision's not too bad, but when I go outside without my glasses the fact the the physics are great in the real world does not make up for the poor resolution.

I for one don't think we're ready to move past improving graphics quality (yet).

Sure, better use of physics will provide undreamed of opportunities for creativity... BUT... We now have a "standard" for graphics resolution of 1920 X 1200 (or 1080) and until every game runs at that resolution (with anti-aliasing) at a frame rate consistantly above 40, we're not done with graphics. (In my humble opinion).

By the way, while we're on the topic, what about "situational awareness". I for one am tired of feeling like I'm playing every game wearing a diving mask. I'm not expecting the "holodeck" but simultaing "real worlds" starts with a better sense of awareness of what's going on to your right and left (let alone, behind you).

Re: Ed Borden: A Chassis Ahead of its Time: GTR Tech GT3

Jon_F — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:52:28 -0000

One of the best features of the Firebird is factory water cooling. This makes it virtually silent under full load.
I have a Firebird 802 and a conventional Quad Core tower system with 5 fans. Even tweaking fan speeds the tower system is too loud for business use.
However, my single Nvidia 280 card in the tower seems to outperform the dual cards in the Firebird with frame rates about 25% faster in Crysis (with both games set to the same settings). For reasons stated above (limited video upgradability) I don't see the Firebird as a system that the gamers will embrace, but it is an excellent mid range desktop for enterprise because it's powerful, stable, well integrated, has a major manufacturers warrantee and it’s SILENT. The Firebird also supports Hot Swap drive bays allowing lower cost of maintenance and OS/Data swapping flexibility.
It's a shame that HP sees this as a gamers’ box. IMHO that's not its best (or largest) audience. With its "Greener" carbon footprint, silent operation and lower cost to service I think it would do very well in enterprise.
With the removal of the Firebird 803 after only a few months and the steep discounts on the 802, the Firebird’s future is a mystery to me. I absolutely love the Firebird and hope they release an i7 version soon, but I plan to get a GT3 for gaming after reading that Sean will soon be delivering configured systems.
Hey Sean, how about hot swap 2.5” drives or factory water cooling?