alexhortdog95
Eye to the future, honoring the past
Hey all, didn't see a thread about this, so I thought I'd put one out there. This may sound rantish at first, but bear with me.
Let me first preface this thread with the fact that I feel like an old dog. 36 years old, college educated, wit a wife, two kids, bills, etc. Software developer by trade for almost 15 years. The last console I owned is a PS2.
I have built a few systems in my time. The latest PC build I have has the following specs:
Now, I understand the need for all three (Tabs, PCs, Consoles). My difficulties are with how society (namely retailers) are forcing us down a path to choose one of these technologies.
TABLETS
My wife has a tablet (Kindle Fire). She loves this thing. I, on the other hand, can't see a need for me to have one. We have a laptop that we use, but she takes the tablet everywhere she goes. Again, I can see the real life application for it. But retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Target.....they've put all their stock on TABLETS and GAME CONSOLES. I recently went into a Best Buy to find an optical drive for our older PC. An.....OPTICAL.....DRIVE.
I go to this store, and I ask the Geek Squad guy, "Where are your optical drives?" The guy looks at me with that same look some fast food cashier gives you when you give them a twenty dollar bill with a quarter and expect whole bills back. The guy is like, "What's that sir?"
"Optical Drives. You know, DVD, CD, Blu-Ray disk drives internal for your PC."
"Oh, we don't carry that kind of stuff here."
Same thing at Target, Walmart, most places I went. Had to freaking order one online. Mind you, this is AFTER I passed the rows and rows of tablet-centric stuff. Want a tiger skinned carrying case for your IPad? Got that. Ain't got a DVD Burner though.
GAME CONSOLES
This one probably goes in the Gaming forum, but it pertains to general technology. So, I am online, looking at videos, and see a couple of wonderfully made games (The Last of Us and Beyond Two Souls). I also am looking forward to the new GTA V that is coming out.
Yeah....not so much. When I see the "ONLY ON PLAYSTATION" I begin cursing. Then, I look online and see that the PC version of GTA V ain't coming out until next year (maybe).
Since when did game developers start giving the finger to PC gamers? I know it's a little easier to develop games for consoles (because you don't have to build in the DRM and copyright protections), but damn guys! You're developing the games on PCs - what the eff?!?
COMPUTERS
Technologies are getting more and more expensive. You almost have to upgrade your freaking computer when a game comes out because of the demanding graphics and such. That being said - if a person wants to upgrade his system, he can just exchange parts out - he doesn't have to get rid of the ENTIRE DAMN SYSTEM.
CLOSING
My frustration is when I look at society, I use this topic as an op-ed on it as a whole.
Creativity is gone.
Desire to do new things is gone.
We want everything now. NOW NOW NOW.
Since when was it a crime to take pride in building something with your hands? Would we have less lazy, unruly, non-creative children if they were required to build the game systems they like to ask Mommy for (cause they don't ask Dad - he's gonna say, "Go outside and play.")?
EDIT: that's how Moms handle the situation. Obviously the kid is like, "[Mark May] my Mom. She's not gonna do shit anyways."
Here's how a Dad handles the situation:
When will we come to the realization that douchebag kids equal douchebag adults and parents? Betcha if that kid BUILT that damn system himself, if he put the time, effort, and money in, he'd have more of a sense of accomplishment, and would understand some damn responsibility.
See pictures of my rig below.
Let me first preface this thread with the fact that I feel like an old dog. 36 years old, college educated, wit a wife, two kids, bills, etc. Software developer by trade for almost 15 years. The last console I owned is a PS2.
I have built a few systems in my time. The latest PC build I have has the following specs:
- ASUS M5A99FX R2.0 w/UEFI BIOS
- AMD AM3+ FX-8320
- Gigabyte NVidia 650 GC
- Cooler Master 750W PS
- Crucial Low Profile Sport DDR RAM (16GB worth)
- 128 GB SanDisk SSD
- 1TB WD Hard Disk SATA
- Obvious optical drives and an SD Card Reader
- NZXT Case
- 27" HDMI Monitor
- Windows 7 Pro (Cause 8 Sucks [Mark May]s)
Now, I understand the need for all three (Tabs, PCs, Consoles). My difficulties are with how society (namely retailers) are forcing us down a path to choose one of these technologies.
TABLETS
My wife has a tablet (Kindle Fire). She loves this thing. I, on the other hand, can't see a need for me to have one. We have a laptop that we use, but she takes the tablet everywhere she goes. Again, I can see the real life application for it. But retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Target.....they've put all their stock on TABLETS and GAME CONSOLES. I recently went into a Best Buy to find an optical drive for our older PC. An.....OPTICAL.....DRIVE.
I go to this store, and I ask the Geek Squad guy, "Where are your optical drives?" The guy looks at me with that same look some fast food cashier gives you when you give them a twenty dollar bill with a quarter and expect whole bills back. The guy is like, "What's that sir?"
"Optical Drives. You know, DVD, CD, Blu-Ray disk drives internal for your PC."
"Oh, we don't carry that kind of stuff here."
Same thing at Target, Walmart, most places I went. Had to freaking order one online. Mind you, this is AFTER I passed the rows and rows of tablet-centric stuff. Want a tiger skinned carrying case for your IPad? Got that. Ain't got a DVD Burner though.
GAME CONSOLES
This one probably goes in the Gaming forum, but it pertains to general technology. So, I am online, looking at videos, and see a couple of wonderfully made games (The Last of Us and Beyond Two Souls). I also am looking forward to the new GTA V that is coming out.
Yeah....not so much. When I see the "ONLY ON PLAYSTATION" I begin cursing. Then, I look online and see that the PC version of GTA V ain't coming out until next year (maybe).
Since when did game developers start giving the finger to PC gamers? I know it's a little easier to develop games for consoles (because you don't have to build in the DRM and copyright protections), but damn guys! You're developing the games on PCs - what the eff?!?
COMPUTERS
Technologies are getting more and more expensive. You almost have to upgrade your freaking computer when a game comes out because of the demanding graphics and such. That being said - if a person wants to upgrade his system, he can just exchange parts out - he doesn't have to get rid of the ENTIRE DAMN SYSTEM.
CLOSING
My frustration is when I look at society, I use this topic as an op-ed on it as a whole.
Creativity is gone.
Desire to do new things is gone.
We want everything now. NOW NOW NOW.
Since when was it a crime to take pride in building something with your hands? Would we have less lazy, unruly, non-creative children if they were required to build the game systems they like to ask Mommy for (cause they don't ask Dad - he's gonna say, "Go outside and play.")?
EDIT: that's how Moms handle the situation. Obviously the kid is like, "[Mark May] my Mom. She's not gonna do shit anyways."
Here's how a Dad handles the situation:
When will we come to the realization that douchebag kids equal douchebag adults and parents? Betcha if that kid BUILT that damn system himself, if he put the time, effort, and money in, he'd have more of a sense of accomplishment, and would understand some damn responsibility.
See pictures of my rig below.
Attachments
Last edited:
