I've been thinking about this a lot. And maybe I'm just looking at this from a different perspective, but to me, things have been slowing down since the 90s.

If you're talking about exponential growth in terms of the number of computers in the world, then yeah, there's no question there. Even as a lifelong geek, I own way more "computers" today than I did even just ten years ago, although only one of them actually sits on a desk. And people who would never have bought a "computer" 15 or 20 years ago probably own several of them today without even realizing it.

But in terms of technological development? We're in the weeds right now.

From the late 1950s through the early 1970s, development was pretty boring. Transistors got faster, and computer manufacturers packed more and more of them into the box, but nothing fundamentally interesting took place in terms of the underlying technology.

Then 1974 happened.

The 8080 wasn't actually the first microprocessor. It wasn't even the second. But it was the first one that you could actually build a full-fledged computer out of. That was a paradigm-shifting event. Computers could suddenly be small and cheap! And thus, the PC as we know it today was born.

That was huge.

Between '74 and '77 there was a lot of progress in terms of user-interface. Things like keyboards and monitors became a de-facto standard, which was a big leap from the earliest UIs:

http://oldcomputers.net/pics/imsai8080-left.jpg

And that was huger than huge. It was fucking mind-blowing.

After that, things kind of slowed down for a while. From 1977 until well into the 1980s, not much happened. Memory grew slowly, processor speeds ticked up incrementally. Massive growth in terms of the number of PCs that existed, but since manufacturers could barely build the machines fast enough to meet demand, there wasn't much need to improve them dramatically.


When the Intel 80386 came out, that seemed to kick things into high gear. Suddenly, the Processor War was on, and it was more than just cranking up the frequency for a change. New techniques like memory management, prefetch, and even branch prediction started to be envisioned. And processors in general were starting to get cheap enough that they could be customized for specific applications within the computer. Bit blitters led to polygon shaders, and suddenly graphics got interesting. Rudimentary FM synthesis paved the way for wavetable-based audio, and suddenly computers sounded as good as they looked!

And then, somewhere just after the turn of the century, it all sort of froze.


Seems like these days the only real innovation is in figuring out how to do the same things we did 10 years ago but in a smaller form-factor and with lower power consumption. Nowadays, each successive generation of CPUs is actually slower than the last! And they're not doing anything radical in terms of architecture either- Intel figured out that it was far easier to just cut-and-paste the same design over and over and slap the label "multi core!" onto it, and the copycats followed suit.

Right now, I fear that Moore's Law is in danger of repeal.






On an unrelated note:

Attachment 240532

Ha! I totally forgot about those! (I never owned one- I used scissors.)

Reno Air Races Crash
 

My father was there. He is in this picture between the pole and the left edge of the white tents.



http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/y...stinstantR.jpg


Be nice to the people you love.

no seat, no tailfin, no care.

Alabama justice system at work! I couldn't resist taking a pic, lmao! I asked him what he tried to steal, he said a game controller... :bowrofl:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1316718188

A modern take on the Pillory! I love it.

http://www.sadlyno.com/wordpress/upl...ory_stocks.jpg

i also think this is the greatest thing ever. you have to wonder how many people would be more discouraged by public humiliation than whatever other things we currently do to them

fucking win!

Attachment 240531

his most visited was probably a bunch of Buck Angel fan sites, and MeatSpin... :-)

I have three computers I have been wanting to throw away for quite a while. I slip a part of one in the trash can at my house every week - disappearing a little at a time. If I try to put the entire thing in there (instead of hiding it) the trash man throws it on my lawn.

http://houston.culturemap.com/site_m....181w_136h.jpg


OFFICIALLY the worst team in baseball...


At least Drayton McClane is selling the team, and we've got the first round pick.

Me and Kim Komando (~1994)

http://www.lightweightmiata.com/misc/komando.jpg

http://www.komando.com/media/images/Komando_300x250.jpg

Holy hell yes!

I killed so many hours playing Global War, Trade Wars 2002, and LORD that it's almost embarrassing.

In college, we had a massive whiteboard stuck to one wall of the apartment where I actually attempted to map out an entire TradeWars universe. I failed. That may have been, in all seriousness, the best videogame ever created, full stop.

Was that screenshot from a WildCat BBS?


http://www.memphisbbs.net/images/cnetlogin.gif

No idea what that screenshot is from (just random pic I found on the net).

I started my business one day when I got tired of waiting for my turn in Trade Wars and BRE. I ran several using PCBoard, Telegard, and Major BBS. I wish I still had some screenshots. I do have an old ad for one of them:



Dazed & Confused BBS

Running with PCBOARD 15.2!! 8 Nodes!!!

Quarterly Giveaways of FREE merchandise!!!!!!

Monthly Barren Realm Contests...24 CD ROMS...600 Filebones...600+ Fido
Message Areas...100+ Online games...8 way MultiNode Chat...MultiNode,
Head to Head games...3200+ UseNet Groups...GIGS & GIGS OF FILES!!!!!!!!
4500+ Conferences...Monthly BRE Contests...Small Fee for FULL Access...
Our OWN satellite system for 50 megs of new mail & files every day!
Your own Internet address and access to all UseNet Groups
FREE to all registered users!!!!

Now Online - SPORTS CONNECT - Updated sports Scores & News 24 hours a day!
Call and check out your favorite teams scores or read news about your
favorite players online!!

Just put online for download - 700 MORE DOOM Add-ons and Utilities!!!
WHICH BRINGS OUR TOTAL TO 1700+ DOOM FILES
Soon to have 200 DOOM ][ Files online for your downloading pleasure!

**** FREE MERCHANDISE GIVEN AWAY TO ONE LUCKY USER EVERY 3 MONTHS. ****
**** ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS REGISTER DURING THAT 3 MONTH PERIOD!!! ****
Next giveaway will be for the months of October, November, and December!!!
CONGRATS TO CLAYTON SCALES FOR BEING OUR *FIRST* QUARTERLY GIVE-AWAY WINNER!

INTERNET EMAIL - FIDONET - EGGNET - USPOLNET - DOORNET
CHASNET - USENET GROUPS - INTERSPORTS NETWORK - GHOSTNET
INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGY ASSOCIATION - HEALTHCARE NETWORK
RIME - GAMER'S ROLE PLAYING NETWORK

COMING SOON: U'nI'net, City 2 City, Current Stock Prices,
Voice Mailbox for all Registered users and
MUCH, MUCH MORE!!!

************************************************** ***************
* Come see what we are all about and why we were voted *
* *** #1 BBS *** in the Lowcountry for 1994 by our users! *
************************************************** ***************

To call any of our * 8 * Nodes, simply dial 1-803-873-5797

Always someone to help you, 24 hours a day!!

Dazed & Confused Registered Doors:

Lord of the Red Dragon - Super Slots! - Wheel Of Fortune
Barren Realms Elite - Global Wars - Solar Realms Elite
The Pit (new version on the way!) - Tradewars 2002 (5000 SECTORS BIG!)
Planets: TEOS - Late Night Poker - 2151 - BBS Bowling
Fantasy League Baseball - OutPost Trader - ArrowBridge
EZ Hang'N!

NOTE: Both of our Tradewars games have been reset...Come on over
and join in with the rest of our users and see who's the
best!

CD's that we have online giving you Gigs of downloads:
(6 Disk Changer & an 18 Disk Changer)

1. Games 1994 13. OS/2 Box
2. Otherware (Mac & Amiga files!!) 14. Tech ArsenalOS/2 Box
3. Gif Galaxy 15. Monster Media '94 #1
4. Modem Madness 16. Pier 3
5. Mega Win/OS/2 17. Swimwear 1993
6. Pier 4 18. Night Owl Business
7. Night Owl Graphics 19. Monster Media '94 #2
8. CD Sourcebox 20. Mega-A/V
9. Games 1993 21. Sci-Fi
10. Windows 1994 22. Monster Media '93 #3
11. Monster Media '93 #2 23. Pier 5
12. 9000 Sounds 24. Software Vault Ruby

We look forward to see you online soon!!

Both of you obviously failed to read the pricing.

The Acer is a complete computer, while the piece of shit apple does NOT include the $450.00 15" monitor. Yeah I bash crApple products, especially their computers. Name ONE thing an apple computer can do that a PC can't do that anyone gives a fuck about, yet look at the price difference for what is basically the same fucking thing.

How about that Toshiba notebook? Jesus.. I was GIVEN a pretty similar notebook about 1999.. 2300$? Fawk..



Fuck your faggggot ass drifting, this is how Iraqis do:


That's borderline absolute fucking insanity or maaaad skill... You choose.

Yeah, notebooks back then were totally ridiculous on price.

And something my Mac does that my Windows based machines dont do? Works every day the way I expect it to.

:bowrofl: Oh shit. At 6:30, the music in the in car view. All of their music sounds the same to me. I guess maybe that's good drift music. Sounds like what Apu would be listening to at the convenience store...

Not enough crashing...

Youtube Arab drifting crash and enjoy.

To be honest I had forgotten how fuggin expensive everything electronic was back then. My first dvd player I bought in 1997 and spent $550 dollars on it! :facepalm:

Works everyday the way you expect it? Neat. My Non-Mac desktop does the same thing.. Odd.

http://manychefsbroth.co.uk/wp-conte...1202232827.jpg


TBH I've never tried to drive like that in a FWD vehicle, but I've auto-x'd several.. That's some crazy ass shit!!

My Seedsbox in the Netherlands is AWESOME. Downloading the movie at 10.5MB/s.
http://www.boostedmiata.com/gallery2...wloadspeed.png