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I don't see how the problem "write an amusing simulation of space ships shooting missiles" in intrinsically different from "write a data model for invoices and

I don't see how the problem "write an amusing simulation of space ships shooting missiles" in intrinsically different from "write a data model for invoices and expenses and report on how they add up". Obviously the techniques are different, but you're both solving a "problem" with the help of a computer.

pandaman 12y ago
Is the writing a data model actually a problem that is being solved here? I'd imagined that the problem was reporting invoices and expenses. So you solve this problem with the help of a computer by writing a data model. You could solve it without a computer too by hiring somebody to add the invoices and expenses with an abacus and the difference would be just the cost. What problem writing an amusing simulation of space ships shooting missiles is solving in your opinion? Other than the lack of such simulation, of course. Could you solve such a problem without a computer? I don't think many people would be amused flying a real space ship and shooting missiles.
- Paul_S 12y ago
  Games solve the problem of people having too much money and being bored. You could solve that without computers. Or money.
- wlievens 12y ago
  I think that's merely a matter of scale. The analog equivalent to a computer game is a video game, or playing a sport. Vice versa, there are plenty of "problems solved with the help of a computer" that simply cannot be solved without a computer: anything that needs a computer's scale to be calculated.
- mreiland 12y ago
  The problem being solved at the high level is one of how to entertain. These problems tend to be solved by the game designers themselves. Every solution involving software has many many layers of software inside it, and every single one of those layers is solving a problem of some sort. Some layer somewhere in that expenses report is solving the problem of how to save and load data, for example. It has nothing to do with the business problem being solved, but it's still a technical problem that needs to be solved. It's the same for games.

pandaman 12y ago

Is the writing a data model actually a problem that is being solved here? I'd imagined that the problem was reporting invoices and expenses. So you solve this problem with the help of a computer by writing a data model. You could solve it without a computer too by hiring somebody to add the invoices and expenses with an abacus and the difference would be just the cost. What problem writing an amusing simulation of space ships shooting missiles is solving in your opinion? Other than the lack of such simulation, of course. Could you solve such a problem without a computer? I don't think many people would be amused flying a real space ship and shooting missiles.

Paul_S 12y ago
Games solve the problem of people having too much money and being bored. You could solve that without computers. Or money.
wlievens 12y ago
I think that's merely a matter of scale. The analog equivalent to a computer game is a video game, or playing a sport. Vice versa, there are plenty of "problems solved with the help of a computer" that simply cannot be solved without a computer: anything that needs a computer's scale to be calculated.
mreiland 12y ago
The problem being solved at the high level is one of how to entertain. These problems tend to be solved by the game designers themselves. Every solution involving software has many many layers of software inside it, and every single one of those layers is solving a problem of some sort. Some layer somewhere in that expenses report is solving the problem of how to save and load data, for example. It has nothing to do with the business problem being solved, but it's still a technical problem that needs to be solved. It's the same for games.