Where were the computers, Steve? And by that I mean the boring, traditional, on a desk computers? I know they’re so 1999, mentally beige, but damn it I want to see a new Pro, a new Mini, a new iMac, a new Air and a new xServe!
Archive for the 'Thoughts' Category
Lately I’ve been running into communication issues while playing with pug and raid mates. I don’t know if it’s summer time daze or what, but whatever the reason communication has been less than stellar.
Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking while playing World Of Warcraft. Most of my thinking has been about why I enjoy playing WoW. I came up with this simple list.
Remember At Ease, Apple’s simplification of the ancient Mac OS designed for those that lived in fear of computers:
I was around 12 when I used At Ease. Not for me, for my parents. Thinking back, I assumed that this would be great for them. They didn’t need the confusion of files, folders or elaborate menu systems. They needed something simpler and straight to the point.
In retrospect At Ease wasn’t that good, it was limited and it never accommodated my parents needs well enough. To this day my parents are still fearful of their Mac. A few years ago my Dad called me, fearfully explaining that some of his files had disappeared. My Dad hadn’t lost any files. He’d just scrolled a window down and seen different files. Not understanding the operating system properly, he’d assumed the files had just disappeared. As soon as I explained what had happened, he understood. And felt daft.
Daftness aside, modern computers and operating systems can be made to be easier to use. While At Ease was limited, I see it’s influence in the iPhone and the iPad OS: a simplification and reduction of activities, instead an intense focus on just a few activities made easy and slick.
What does this have to do with games? Well, directly, not much - I’m waffling a bit. But, I could see my parents using the iPad and maybe playing games on it. My Ma is a huge fan of Eric’s Ultimate Solitare for the Mac. I doubt she could handle installing a program on her Mac, but she could probably do it on an iPhone or an iPad. Wouldn’t it be great if she could try other games, too?
Is there are market for people like my parents or is this generation so technology literate we can deal with the weirdness of online systems, quirky operating systems and products?
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