[Beowulf] gamers: evil or just useless? ;)

[Mark Hahn]

> Before you bash gaming too much, however, I would suggest you think of
> some of the advantages that gamers bring to the industry! :P

actually, all the bashing was in jest; as an ardent beowulfer, I very much
appreciate anything which spurrs on the industry, since it can then be 
subverted by hackers (definition of beowulfry, after all...)

> [read "gamers"] - however mildly beneficial the technology might be.
> Benefits, IMO, would be better seen from the technology behind
> nVidia's new onboard NIC - giving priority to certains packets, called
> FirstPacket <http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2764&p=3>.

OK, this does vex me a bit - TOS is not a new concept, and I really
don't see why it's worth any new coverage...

> ->Masses of people buying hardware, encouraging competition between
> chipmakers, and keeping prices down through mass production

sure.  except that it's gamer-specific stuff.  I think that's what creeps
everyone out about the gamer-driven industry, that its imperatives don't
always match up with those of actual users...

> ->R&D boosted by gamer's demands, leading to improvements that can be
> used elsewhere

not just boosted, but _shaped_ by gamer whinging.  actually, I'm not dissing
gamers as much as pointing out that they're a pretty specific niche, and that 
they weild disproportionate influence.

> ->Newest hardware is tested by gamers

for some definition of "test".  usually just running random games and 
exclaiming over the difference between 250 and 260 fps.  long-term
stability?  heck, gaming excellence in GPUs is practically at odds with 
humanly endurable noise levels...