From: autodesk!unreal!robertj@uunet.UU.NET (Young Rob Jellinghaus)
Subject: Re: Wargames and Virtual Worlds (Was Re: Questions about BattleTech)
Date: Sun, 28 Apr 91 16:05:02 PDT




Yes, after posting and seeing some of the other followups I realized
you were speaking more specifically about the negative effects of a
wargames == VR association in venture capitalists' minds.

Personal computers started out as toys too, though.

I would go so far as to assert that anyone who dismisses a technology
because it seems to be useful only for games is shooting themselves
in the foot.  As I said in my post, games require low bandwidth, and
have always been the favorite hobbies of many of the truly bright,
capable people in the computer field.  Nothing is more natural than that
a new technology should get explored with games first.

And a little later, when the technology has evolved further, when it
becomes _possible_ to write really sound applications where the bandwidth
demands are higher and standards of "realism" are raised--well, at that
point VR will no longer be seen as a toy, no more than a modern 386 PC
is considered one.

(Not, of course, that more computer games than ever before are available
for the 386 PC--just check any Egghead's and watch your jaw drop!)

I stand stoutly behind my defense of toys.


Rob Jellinghaus                 | "Next time you see a lie being spread or
Autodesk, Inc.                  |  a bad decision being made out of sheer
robertj@Autodesk.COM            |  ignorance, pause, and think of hypertext."
{decwrl,uunet}!autodesk!robertj |    -- K. Eric Drexler, _Engines of Creation_