On Wed, 14 May 2008 12:52:45 +0100, Lister wrote:

> Will there ever be one as big as the humble speccy again?

I'm not sure there's much scope left for "bringing computing to the
masses" like the speccy did - prices are probably about as low as they can
get and machines just can't be piled any higher and cheaper than they
already are.

However, there's plenty of scope left for different ways of working
(distributed computing, machine intelligence, quantum computing etc.)
which might take off in the next 50 years or so.

cheers

Jules

On May 14, 12:52 pm, Lister wrote:
> Will there ever be one as big as the humble speccy again?

What about pandora? See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC5SN6L1fyI

On the other hand, I'm afraid there will no computer which impact us
as the ZX Spectrum did.
It was or first computer (for many of us), it was simple, cool :-) and
easy to hack / program.

Currently the systems offers ZILLIONS of RAM / NetworkBand / Space/
CPU Speed. It doesn' matter how far they will go, I won't get
impressed by them as with the ZX Spectrum. If there's going to be a
new computer phenomena it must be something completely unexpected and
revolutionary. Maybe AI related, and must allow the user to easily
hack it / improve it / programe it.

Maybe a GRID / SOCIAL computing AI game platform, as Jules suggested
is the way to go. Who knows...

Lister wrote:
> Will there ever be one as big as the humble speccy again?

Certainly not for the same sorts of reasons. People just don't buy
computers just to find out how they work or to learn to program any
more. They buy them because they need to learn Word or Photoshop, or to
email their granny in Auchenshoogle.

The OLPC project had a chance of doing something revolutionary for a
different target audience, but it seems to be self-destructing at the
moment.

On Wed, 14 May 2008 23:07:49 +0100, Calum
wrote:

>Lister wrote:
>> Will there ever be one as big as the humble speccy again?
>
>Certainly not for the same sorts of reasons. People just don't buy
>computers just to find out how they work or to learn to program any
>more. They buy them because they need to learn Word or Photoshop, or to
>email their granny in Auchenshoogle.
>
>The OLPC project had a chance of doing something revolutionary for a
>different target audience, but it seems to be self-destructing at the
>moment.



OLPC?

Lister wrote:

> OLPC?

Don't you have google in Scotland?
--
Slower Than You

On 2008-05-15, Slower Than You wrote:

> Lister wrote:
>
>> OLPC?
>
> Don't you have google in Scotland?

They do but all it does is come up with Mel Gibson's Braveheart quotes
and complaints about the English ;-)

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
http://youtube.com/user/tarcus69
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarcus/sets/

Slower Than You wrote:
> Lister wrote:
>
>> OLPC?
>
> Don't you have google in Scotland?

They do, but the carrier pigeon dies of exhaustion carrying all the hits
back.
--
| spike1@freenet.co.uk | Windows95 (noun): 32 bit extensions and a |
| | graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit |
| Andrew Halliwell BSc | operating system originally coded for a 4 bit |
| in |microprocessor, written by a 2 bit company, that|
| Computer Science | can't stand 1 bit of competition. |

Ian Rawlings wrote:

> On 2008-05-15, Slower Than You wrote:
>
> > Lister wrote:
> >
> >> OLPC?
> >
> > Don't you have google in Scotland?
>
> They do but all it does is come up with Mel Gibson's Braveheart quotes
> and complaints about the English ;-)

Would that be ochayethenoogle.com? Actually there is a Scottish Gaelic
version of google the I just discovered - http://www.google.com/intl/gd/

Not too sure how many Scots actually speak the lingo though these days
though.
--
Slower Than You

On 2008-05-16, Slower Than You wrote:

> Would that be ochayethenoogle.com? Actually there is a Scottish Gaelic
> version of google the I just discovered - http://www.google.com/intl/gd/
>
> Not too sure how many Scots actually speak the lingo though these days
> though.

When I lived up there I was taught it throughout my childhood at the
primary school, and went on to learn it for a while at secondary
school but after a year or so I was catapulted 100 years into the
future by moving to England. I can remember almost none of it,
probably due to my brain trying to scrub the memories of having to
stand on a stage and sing the bloody stuff while dressed in a skirt
with a furry purse strapped to my crotch.

No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".

As for people who speak it, I never met anyone who spoke it seriously,
but I'll bet there's loads who claim to. I only ever learned songs in
it and trotted them out parrot-fashion, not paying the blindest bit of
attention to the language itself so I don't claim to speak it, just
remember fragments of crap songs in it.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
http://youtube.com/user/tarcus69
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarcus/sets/

On Fri, 16 May 2008 16:15:05 +0100 da kidz on comp.sys.sinclair were rappin'
to MC Slower Than You:

> Would that be ochayethenoogle.com? Actually there is a Scottish Gaelic
> version of google the I just discovered - http://www.google.com/intl/gd/
>
> Not too sure how many Scots actually speak the lingo though these days
> though.

5%, see:
http://www.bord-na-gaidhlig.org.uk/D...06.Lang-EN.htm

Chris


--
+-------------------------------------------+
| Unsatisfactory Software - "because it is" |
| http://www.unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk |
| Your Sinclair: A Celebration |
+- http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk -----------+

DISCLAIMER: I may be making all this stuff up again.

On 2008-05-16, Chris Young wrote:

> 5%, see:
> http://www.bord-na-gaidhlig.org.uk/D...06.Lang-EN.htm

Pfff, make that 5% know one or two words, not much point going to a
gaelic promoting website to find out information, it's like asking the
manfacturer's of Whiskas how many cats out of 10 prefer it.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!
http://youtube.com/user/tarcus69
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarcus/sets/

"Ian Rawlings" wrote:

> No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
> everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
> like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
> of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".

F'NAR!

obSpeccy: The two most Scottish games I can find on WoS are "MacMan and
the Caber Eater" and the curiously denied educational game "Macbeth".

Eq.

On 16 May, 20:06, "Paul E Collins"
wrote:
> "Ian Rawlings" wrote:
> > No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
> > everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
> > like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
> > of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".
>
> F'NAR!
>
> obSpeccy: The two most Scottish games I can find on WoS are "MacMan and
> the Caber Eater" and the curiously denied educational game "Macbeth".
>
> Eq.

You mean "The Scottish Game". You should have said "The most Scottish
game I can find is 'The Scottish Game'".

"Paul E Collins" wrote:

> The two most Scottish games I can find on WoS are "MacMan and the
> Caber Eater" and the curiously denied educational game "Macbeth".

I have now also found "Nessie" and "Loch Ness Monsters".

Code Masters' "Advanced Haggis Simulator" is still missing in action.
Can you help?

Eq.

Ian Rawlings wrote:

> No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
> everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
> like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
> of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".

Gal-ick is how the highlanders pronounce it. (Apparently. I wouldn't
know.) And it's their language, not us Sassenach lowlanders', so we[1]
tend to use that up here.[2] Gay-lick is the Irish pronunciation.

> As for people who speak it, I never met anyone who spoke it seriously,
> but I'll bet there's loads who claim to. I only ever learned songs in
> it and trotted them out parrot-fashion, not paying the blindest bit of
> attention to the language itself so I don't claim to speak it, just
> remember fragments of crap songs in it.

Apparently it's still the first language on the likes of Lewis. But then
they still worship the big iron bird that brings medicine up there.

[1] I say "we"; I tend to use "gay-lick" because it annoys the
teuchters.[3] And that's always fun.

[2] Or down here. Whatever. The bit between you and them.

[3] Hielanmen.[4]

[4] Highlanders.

--
Duncan Snowden.

"Paul E Collins" napísal

> I have now also found "Nessie" and "Loch Ness Monsters".

Just offtopic : does Lochness monster rumour base on some real experience,
or is it pure fiction ?

B

On Fri, 16 May 2008 18:32:04 +0100 da kidz on comp.sys.sinclair were rappin'
to MC Ian Rawlings:

> > 5%, see:
> > http://www.bord-na-gaidhlig.org.uk/D...06.Lang-EN.htm
>
> Pfff, make that 5% know one or two words

Actually, I was going to quantify it, by suggesting they had only
surveyed people in outlying areas who are mostly cut off from the rest
of Scotland (but I posted it first and didn't want to reply to
myself). I've seen other estimates of 100,000 (or was it 10,000?), in
fact those were the estimates I was looking for but I couldn't be
bothered to look past the first couple of links on Google (English
version).

Chris


--
+-------------------------------------------+
| Unsatisfactory Software - "because it is" |
| http://www.unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk |
| Your Sinclair: A Celebration |
+- http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk -----------+

DISCLAIMER: I may be making all this stuff up again.

On Fri, 16 May 2008 20:53:16 +0100 da kidz on comp.sys.sinclair were rappin'
to MC Duncan Snowden:

> Ian Rawlings wrote:
>
> > No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
> > everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
> > like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
> > of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".
>
> Gal-ick is how the highlanders pronounce it. (Apparently. I wouldn't
> know.) And it's their language, not us Sassenach lowlanders', so we[1]
> tend to use that up here.[2] Gay-lick is the Irish pronunciation.

Gay-lick is surely correct, as ae (or, rather, æ) is pronounced ay[1]
and has it origins in, actually I have no idea where æ originates[2]
and I don't care as it tends to get replaced by ae or e or even a
these days, depending on the day of the week or other such random
factors. It also looks remarkably odd in a fixed width font which
squashes it down to the same size as an a or an e.

But, in a country[3] where burgh is pronounced borough, who knows how
to pronounce Gælic[4], garlic or even Glasgow?

Chris

[1] Or, "Eh?", a sort of elongated "a" sound anyway.
[2] I could look it up on Wikipædia, if they'd spelt it right.
[3] OK, it happens in England too, but that's not the subject here, is
it?
[4] This is the point where somebody tells me that the a and e have
always been separate in Gaelic and æ is actually wrong. But what do I
care?


--
+-------------------------------------------+
| Unsatisfactory Software - "because it is" |
| http://www.unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk |
| Your Sinclair: A Celebration |
+- http://www.yoursinclair.co.uk -----------+

DISCLAIMER: I may be making all this stuff up again.

On Fri, 16 May 2008 20:06:00 +0100, "Paul E Collins"
wrote:

>"Ian Rawlings" wrote:
>
>> No-one could ever agree on how to pronounce the word "Gaelic",
>> everyone up in scotland I ever met prounounced it "gal-ick" (sounds
>> like "phallic") while I was told everso ernestly by everyone outside
>> of scotland that it's to be pronounced "gay-lick".
>
>F'NAR!
>
>obSpeccy: The two most Scottish games I can find on WoS are "MacMan and
>the Caber Eater" and the curiously denied educational game "Macbeth".
>


Oooh, hot potato off with his drawers, pluck to make amends!