According to the post, the first computer was in their trailer, but there's an earlier scene where they're using a monitor to view the raptor bones in a tent at the dig site. Not sure if that counts but I'd like to have learned more about that device.
Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
191–200 of 278 posts
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#192My wife worked for Thinking Machines back then. I remember that they'd asked Cray to loan them a supercomputer for the film because that's the computer used in the book. Cray brushed them off, so they turned to Thinking Machines who were happy to do it. To thank them, the producers rented a theater in Cambridge, MA to screen the film just for Thinking Machines and I was also able to attend. By far the biggest reactio…
That’s amazing! I live next to their former office. Do you know which theater they rented out?
It was a long time ago so I can't say for certain, but she and I both remember it being the Kendall Sq. cinema.
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMO this is the social internet at its best. Pretty obscure question answered relatively quickly with answer and source.
AI immediately gives me the same answer. I can’t tell if I like this easy access to detail or lament the growing irrelevance of “social internet” for these kinds of things. It reminds me of pre-phone disagreements among pals. You’d argue and argue and maybe eventually agree to disagree. Today someone just looks up the trivia and it’s all over.
Of course, the only reason AI knows about it is because one human posted it online because they wanted to share a good story with another human
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#194The attention to detail spent here was what sparked my original interest in computers which inevitably led to my career. as a young man, watching this movie I was amazed that one man and a bunch of computers could unleash such mayhem.
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#195"There is a continuity error in the movie. See how the stack of PLI is facing left in this early shot." It occurs to me that Arnold would be likely to turn these to face him when sitting at Nedry's desk (unless we see a shot of him going to sit and they already face forward). It'd obviously be part of the review of undoing Nedry's lockout to see if the backups are working (if I understand the point of the machines).
Or since the equipment was on loan, the marketers requested hero shots of the equipment.
I know I'm being a Crichton/Spielberg fanboy when I ask for the lore equivalent of Occam's Razor - isn't it more likely my favorite creators did this most impressively??
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Macs won't old school at the time. They were high-end workstations for anyone who didn't need Unix and wanted a GUI that worked.
true. the book was written before Windows was released.
The book came out in 1990, the same year Windows 3.0 was released. Windows 1.0 was released in 1985 and 2.0 was released in 1987.
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#197I feel like I'm picking up on more intentional or if not, lore-compatible, examples of John Hammond's "spare no expense" going towards as much the illusion of control as any actual innovations/control. Are they columns in the building load-bearing? You know, the ones with giant chunks chipped out to be more aesthetic and look like fossil digging work. Everyone is talking about the massive rendering ability in the roo…
> My favorite part of the book will always be the 238/292 dinosaurs disparity.
This and the scene where they realize they've been running on backup power the whole time are both fantastic
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#198We just watched this movie last night (as a tribute to Sam Neill). I loved all the SGI hardware. Although the Irix FSN file explorer scene made me cring. It was excurciating watching Lex navigate. On that era of hardware, midnight commander would have been my jam. (or honestly `ls` just like it is now). I did love seeing Dennis pounding on that Apple ADB keyboard (even though there was no way that'd be hooked to an S…
So... Realistically fsn makes for a killer visual for audiences, "this computer is SOOO advanced it has a 3d interface" and here is someone doing something technical with it.
But if we take it at face value, immersed in the cinematic world they are building. Some young wanna be hacker, knows a little more than the average joe about computers. and when all the adults in the room are afraid to even look at the system, steps up to see what it is about. We have all been there. And stumbles on this 3d thing(perhaps needry enjoyed the demo and left a link on the desktop) but the names are familiar, it is the same as the sun system at the university you can telnet into. "Hey this is unix, I know this! now where would the the start park script be?"
Basically me "Hey my mac is not working right, you like computers can you fix it?" starts sweating, having never touched a mac in my life "S.S.Sure" Click around a bit find the terminal "Hey this is unix, I know this!"
As an aside I bought an sgi in the early 2000s ($300 for a $30000 doller computer, what a steal), I suspect largely due to Michael Crichton books and was tickled pink to find out the "This is unix, I know this!" One of the stupider in a long list of stupid hollywood interfaces was actually a real thing.
I need to find out what the matrix used, it smells like motif on the worst passive matrix(wait a minute) lcd screen you have ever seen in your life.
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was kind of scary how prescient Jurassic Park was. Just swap genetics for AI and his warnings are incredibly applicable to modern times.
Much like his earlier work Westworld which was also scarily prescient for modern times. > These are highly complicated pieces of equipment. Almost as complicated as living organisms. In some cases, they have been designed by other computers. We don't know exactly how they work.
or The Andromeda Strain. I was on the edge of my seat for the last half of the movie as a 10 year old when it came out. The book still holds up as a medical mystery - thriller and warning of unintended consequences.
Re: Jurassic Park computers in excruciating detail
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
true. the book was written before Windows was released.
The book came out in 1990, the same year Windows 3.0 was released. Windows 1.0 was released in 1985 and 2.0 was released in 1987.
Almost noone used Windows until Windows 3.1. Not even engineering colleges. For intents and purposes, Windows does not really exist til 3.1 for most people. And that didn't even have a TCP/IP stack native; you had to install WinSock.