is it just me or does this article smell like advertorial?
The Minecraft Generation
81–90 of 110 posts
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#82The article describes it as 'clunky'. But, I think much of its popularity is due to its accessibility. It's a very intuitive system, and even my 1 year old gets it. She messes around with it on the tablet and enjoys moving and looking around and watching the cows and chickens.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#83My kids love Minecraft, but more recently they have been playing an open source, highly extensible, and much faster game called Minetest. The mods are all written in Lua, and it runs so much faster on the older hardware I make my kids use, it even runs well on Raspberry Pis.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. Born into a Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 household, grew up on PC/DOS and spent the majority of my life on Windows, deep inside the Microsoft galaxy, but now I've settled into Macs and OS X. I think games used to be the big differentiator for many people, more so than office software, but now the gap is decreasing rapidly on all fronts. Apple needs to revisit the Mac mini as a low-cost entry into the…
Sure, because it's obviously better to use closed, proprietary hardware from a single source than one that's not just open to global competition but lets you build PCs yourself....
Like I said, I was born in an era where there were many "closed" proprietary platforms, like the Commodore 64.
It's not necessarily bad, it's just a different philosophy; some prefer computers to be appliances, like their TV or refrigerator, that "just work." Others prefer computers to be DIY-servicable machines, like cars, that require active and regular maintenance but can be improved if one is so inclined.
Just because all the "appliance computer" manufacturers almost went out of business going into the 1990s, doesn't mean that philosophy failed, and the recent resurgence of Macs has proven as much.
I suspect in an alternate universe/timeline with slightly different twists of fate, the IBM PC has died instead and closed proprietary hardware is the dominant paradigm.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#85It really does feel like Minecraft is the Doom/Quake/Half-Life of this generation. I'd almost thought that modding had disappeared due to the complexity involved in AAA games but nice to see it alive and well in Minecraft.
The Minecraft modding scene is amazing! The Japanese have been doing wonders. You'd be amazed not only by the content but also by the visual effects of some of the mods. Some examples (Not Japanese): ComputerCraft: adds programmable computers in Lua. With in game applications; programmable robots called turtles. Botania and Thaumcraft are two magical mods with stunning visuals. Buildcraft and AE2 are logistics-orient…
I wish it was easier to find and install mods.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> "It is the same problem the last generation had, in large part, with the public schooling Microsoft monoculture. Kids grew up on Windows 95 and Office and are now indoctrinated into Microsoft tooling, probably for life, as loyal customers. A very valuable investment on Microsoft's part to capture the computer knowledge of a large portion of a generation." I don't think this is as big of an issue as you think. I wo…
As an alternative point of view, I've always heard that HP calculators were killed by TI giving free calculators to schools - which lead to an entire generation that had no desire to learn RPN, even if it has some serious advantages in a lot of areas. The counterexamples you provide (OSX and Chromebooks) follow basically the same UI paradigms as the Windows machines they replaced (even if some of those might have bee…
There is this mystic and frankly mythology that HP's RPN is a superior entry method for arithmetic. It's not. I knew RPN from my interest in math before calculators were invented, so I liked HP's RPN. However the direct correspondence between written math and the way it is expressed on a TI calculator is a huge advantage. I still have an HP RPN calculator. I liked its physical shape and size. I like the shape of its buttons. I likes the quality and feel. However, my daughter's TI calculator with a high resolution color screen (for a calculator) that graphs functions and understands calculus is so much more capable, and it supports parentheses with a standard order of operations so it is easier to go from a problem or equation description and entry into the calculator.
Before Python, I ordinarily used bc (a Unix command that acted as a basic calculator) for simple calculator calculations at my desk. bc was much more popular that the other Unix calculator dc which used RPN. Now I just use python's REPL. I only use a calculator if I'm away from a real computer (which is rare since I carry a smart phone).
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think HP's RPN calculators were ever in competition with TI. The RPN calculators like the 12C are marketed to finance professionals, and TI has nothing like them. The HP graphing calculators like the 50g are infix (although there is a pretty good RPN app available). Edit: I do see that HP made graphing calculators with native RPN in the late '80s, so perhaps they were pushing these for academic markets, altho…
The 50g is infix? When did HP switch away from RPN? Oh, it's just an option now. I've had my 48g since college in the late 90s, and now use a 48g emulator on my phone.
HP hasn't been making calculators for years. They buy calculators from some Taiwanese maker and put their logo on them.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Roblox is designed like an MMO. But that also has drawbacks. They charge like an MMO (monthly subscription), and you are beholden to their system/servers. I don't think I've ever gotten more value from a software purchase than buying Minecraft for €9.95 in 2010.
I think you can do a lot on the free tier, my son only recently started spending a little to unlock some of the upgrades. Personally I'd rather see subscriptions fund a server that's always up. I've researched running my own Minecraft server for the local kids, but it's really not worth it.
That's a strange sentiment to hear, and somewhat disheartening. Minecraft servers are easy to set up, and can easily run in the background of an old server or PC.
I've been running one for over a year on my gaming PC and home internet connection.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> "It is the same problem the last generation had, in large part, with the public schooling Microsoft monoculture. Kids grew up on Windows 95 and Office and are now indoctrinated into Microsoft tooling, probably for life, as loyal customers. A very valuable investment on Microsoft's part to capture the computer knowledge of a large portion of a generation." I don't think this is as big of an issue as you think. I wo…
Same here. Born into a Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 household, grew up on PC/DOS and spent the majority of my life on Windows, deep inside the Microsoft galaxy, but now I've settled into Macs and OS X. I think games used to be the big differentiator for many people, more so than office software, but now the gap is decreasing rapidly on all fronts. Apple needs to revisit the Mac mini as a low-cost entry into the…
Latest Intel HD graphics cards are doing really well. I have a Mac Mini and all games I tried work well on it. I had to reduce the quality settings for some (say Rocket League in 3 player split screen or Dark Souls 2), but every game is completely playable. Some games like Devil May Cry 4, the new Tomb Raider or Bioshock Infinite work well with default quality settings without downgrading quality.
Re: The Minecraft Generation
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same here. Born into a Sinclair Spectrum and Commodore 64 household, grew up on PC/DOS and spent the majority of my life on Windows, deep inside the Microsoft galaxy, but now I've settled into Macs and OS X. I think games used to be the big differentiator for many people, more so than office software, but now the gap is decreasing rapidly on all fronts. Apple needs to revisit the Mac mini as a low-cost entry into the…
Sure, because it's obviously better to use closed, proprietary hardware from a single source than one that's not just open to global competition but lets you build PCs yourself....
Hackintosh.