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Presumably computer here means personal computer? Wouldn't it be fair to say that they have, for all intents and purposes, become little more than gaming machin

Presumably computer here means personal computer? Wouldn't it be fair to say that they have, for all intents and purposes, become little more than gaming machines? Of course there is a small segment of the population doing other things with them, but if you look at the typical person they're just trying to push "internet points" around. Same goes for the WWW. The dream of everyone keeping their own website full of useful information, all helpfully linked together, hasn't really materialized. As with before, a few people are doing that, but it never swept the world. The WWW for most people merely provides a way to load their games.

piva00 2y ago
> Presumably computer here means personal computer? Wouldn't it be fair to say that they have, for all intents and purposes, become little more than gaming machines? Of course there is a small segment of the population doing other things with them, but if you look at the typical person they're just trying to push "internet points" around. Nope, not at all. Relative to the people I know I'd say only about 10% have a personal computer for gaming, all the others use it for work or hobbies that do not involve gaming. > Same goes for the WWW. The dream of everyone keeping their own website full of useful information, all helpfully linked together, hasn't really materialized. As with before, a few people are doing that, but it never swept the world. The WWW for most people merely provides a way to load their games. My point has never cited anything about the WWW being skeptically viewed as a fad as the dream of everyone having their own website. That wasn't the view at the time, it was the view of companies not wanting to start a website because the WWW would be just a fad, it was people browsing the internet once, and saying they didn't want to waste time on something that would disappear in a few short years.
- randomdata 2y ago
  > Relative to the people I know I'd say only about 10% have a personal computer for gaming Narrow world perspective? Or narrow gaming definition? HN, for example, should be considered gaming. It even keeps track of your score, so clearly it is a game. When we look at the data of where people generally use their personal computers, gaming is it. Yes, there are outliers. There always is.
  - piva00 2y ago
    You are overstretching way over the definition of a game as understood by a lay definition to fit your criteria. Hacker News isn't a game, it's not played as a game. You could say "entertainment" if you wished but that's not what you said. No, it's not a narrow world perspective, I cruise around quite varied social groups, artists (music, video, performing arts, visual/fine arts), scientists, software engineers, blue collar workers, so on and so forth; most of them use a personal computer to actually perform a task: send emails, research in general, edit something (pictures, videos, text, etc.), plan projects (personal, hobby-related, or professionally), make art, the list goes on and on. These are not outliers, these are normal people doing stuff with a personal computer. I believe you are the one having a narrow view of how people use their computers, the only ones I know gaming on a personal computer are the software engineers. The other gamers in my sphere have a console for that.
    - randomdata 2y ago
      > Hacker News isn't a game, it's not played as a game. It sure looks like a game. You write a string of text that otherwise serves no purpose to see if you can goad a reaction, and it even keeps score so you can keep tabs on your gameplay performance. If that's not a game, games must not exist.
      - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
        You may treat it like a game. You may write posts that otherwise serve no point. Most of the rest of us post because we think we have something worth saying on its own merits, whether or not we get points for it.
        randomdata 2y ago
        > Most of the rest of us post because we think we have something worth saying on its own merits If that were truly the case, why not simply talk to yourself in the shower or keep a private journal? HN would serve no purpose. The only thing it offers, that is not offered by a shower or private journal, is the gameplay.
dwaltrip 2y ago
I think the sentiment was common across the board, e.g. business, academia, and so on, not just in personal computing.

piva00 2y ago

> Presumably computer here means personal computer? Wouldn't it be fair to say that they have, for all intents and purposes, become little more than gaming machines? Of course there is a small segment of the population doing other things with them, but if you look at the typical person they're just trying to push "internet points" around. Nope, not at all. Relative to the people I know I'd say only about 10% have a personal computer for gaming, all the others use it for work or hobbies that do not involve gaming. > Same goes for the WWW. The dream of everyone keeping their own website full of useful information, all helpfully linked together, hasn't really materialized. As with before, a few people are doing that, but it never swept the world. The WWW for most people merely provides a way to load their games. My point has never cited anything about the WWW being skeptically viewed as a fad as the dream of everyone having their own website. That wasn't the view at the time, it was the view of companies not wanting to start a website because the WWW would be just a fad, it was people browsing the internet once, and saying they didn't want to waste time on something that would disappear in a few short years.

randomdata 2y ago
> Relative to the people I know I'd say only about 10% have a personal computer for gaming Narrow world perspective? Or narrow gaming definition? HN, for example, should be considered gaming. It even keeps track of your score, so clearly it is a game. When we look at the data of where people generally use their personal computers, gaming is it. Yes, there are outliers. There always is.
- piva00 2y ago
  You are overstretching way over the definition of a game as understood by a lay definition to fit your criteria. Hacker News isn't a game, it's not played as a game. You could say "entertainment" if you wished but that's not what you said. No, it's not a narrow world perspective, I cruise around quite varied social groups, artists (music, video, performing arts, visual/fine arts), scientists, software engineers, blue collar workers, so on and so forth; most of them use a personal computer to actually perform a task: send emails, research in general, edit something (pictures, videos, text, etc.), plan projects (personal, hobby-related, or professionally), make art, the list goes on and on. These are not outliers, these are normal people doing stuff with a personal computer. I believe you are the one having a narrow view of how people use their computers, the only ones I know gaming on a personal computer are the software engineers. The other gamers in my sphere have a console for that.
  - randomdata 2y ago
    > Hacker News isn't a game, it's not played as a game. It sure looks like a game. You write a string of text that otherwise serves no purpose to see if you can goad a reaction, and it even keeps score so you can keep tabs on your gameplay performance. If that's not a game, games must not exist.
    - AnimalMuppet 2y ago
      You may treat it like a game. You may write posts that otherwise serve no point. Most of the rest of us post because we think we have something worth saying on its own merits, whether or not we get points for it.
      - randomdata 2y ago
        > Most of the rest of us post because we think we have something worth saying on its own merits If that were truly the case, why not simply talk to yourself in the shower or keep a private journal? HN would serve no purpose. The only thing it offers, that is not offered by a shower or private journal, is the gameplay.

dwaltrip 2y ago

I think the sentiment was common across the board, e.g. business, academia, and so on, not just in personal computing.