Predictions made during the Myspace era

It is strange to think that there have been three or four eras of the internet in recent time. There was a time that we call the dark times, or before history. It was the time of Usenet, and other things most of us have no idea about. Then came the Web Browser and the dot com era. AOL, Yahoo, and others tried to make more money than they really should have. Yahoo had a magazine for some reason.

After the dotcom bubble burst was the Post Dot Com era. You would know it as the time of Homestar Runner, and early Flash videos. The idea of sharing videos with friends started up, and we were all downloading whatever show or movie we wanted. This was also the era of blogging.

The Myspace era was all about showing off who you were. A Myspace page was what you wanted everyone to remember you by. There were pages dedicated to Power Rangers that you had to friend. Blogs on myspace were huge, and I enjoyed doing a semi weekly posting.

Then the facebook era came. We were all updated about each other, but didn’t really talk. I remember making the mistake of trying to write a blog once, and having a coworker ask me to not talk to her. It was simply not facebook like to have blogs like myspace.

Facebook is starting to end, and we are likely heading to another era, but since its new there is no name.

Suggestions would be nice before this thing makes them for us.

This was basically the last 20 years, and you can see how things have changed within that time. We can see four presidents go through their time. We see things like 9/11, and the invasion of Iraq.

The reason why I bring this up, is because I once made two predictions during the Myspace era. Those two predictions are starting to become correct, and it sort of weirds me out. During an era when I was shocked to find out all of the political parties I liked were full of crap, I wrote something smart. Strong Bad was answering emails during this time.

Bask in its glory

During the same time as the Xbox 360 barely coming out, I bought a wired XB360 controller. It was $50, and had a USB hookup. Not only is it still around, I use it for Steam Games today.

What I figured out was that Microsoft was THE PC folks. If the company wanted to game, they would require every company to make their games look good at the standards of the 360. I built my PC with the basic idea, and was correct. Ifit released for the PC, it also released for the HD twins, and used the controller I had bought. To this day, the 360 controller is the defacto controller for any PC game. Microsoft had snuck in, and become the standard that all other games were based on.

Also it looks sort of like a Pelvis for some reason

There is a much better article here detailing how that all worked out. Yes, that is a 15 page article on how Microsoft took over, even though they basically lost. The guy who wrote it is a bit of an inspiration for my many articles, and even the basis for some. For another great article, check this one out.

The idea of becoming the standard, or the thing everyone bases their work on is pretty important in my research. If you noticed the graphics I have made on gaming styles has a standard set. For platformers it is Super Mario Bros. and you see that in every game. You know how Mega Man will play, because you already learned it from SMB. In fact, even after buttons have been moved around, the same ideas are used. So, even though I am using an Xbox 360 controller on a PC, the platformers are very similar to that old Nintendo gaming style.

This brings us up to the second prediction. It came when a friend of mine was trying to program a small device for his brother. The computers involved were so old that they only had 5Kb of memory, and would delete any extra items on code. He was trying to get them to do something extra, and still fit the size. The thing was, these same devices would be replaced within the next five years. Keep in mind this was the Myspace era, those computers could be replaced by now.

What I realized when I looked at the specs for these computers was how quickly technology abandons old things. Something during the Myspace era would be outdated, and useless today. For example, Myspace. The devices that would replace these computers would be the same cost -around $100 to $200 a piece- and then be worth around $3 when needing replacements. I actually wrote about this on my Myspace blog, the idea that these small useless computers were getting more, and more powerful.

The basic idea is this, the computers my friend worked on are incredibly cheap, but used on all sorts of things. The entire world of robotics of a certain era could have one of these small computers in them. When they get replaced, it is still something we consider unimportant, but also way more powerful than the devices beforehand. The power of the computers means that they can do things without even trying. They could work off of a wireless network for further commands. In fact, the devices are so powerful, they can easily be hacked. Sort of like hacking an older computer. It can block basic things from the era it was made, but modern hacking skills will make it easy to break into.

If these devices are all standardized, then we have a potential problem that no one else has thought about. Unless everyone is honest, there are manufacturing plants running with devices that can be programmed to go haywire.

What I didn’t see was how the open source hackers would respond to the idea. Ready for it? They support it completely and even have devices ready to be used. The arduino is a device that the creators want to be the standard for every single device. There are competitors, but they are based on the same ideas. In fact, the guy who supports the Arduino promotes the idea of open source for everything they do. If someone wants to make a robot with an arduino, the creators are for it. If someone wants to use the same tech, and build a manufacturing plant, the creators of the arduino are for it.

Our doom looks so boring.

In case you are wondering, the Arduino is powerful. It can hold whatever memory you want it to, and has specs that match even my own personal lappy. In other words, it is the device that I spoke of during the myspace era.

The same battle for being the standard that Microsoft used for PC and Console gaming, is being fought over the arduino. Which is both impressive and scary.

An open source device that can be used to program anything is a really cool idea. Imagine building all of the spooks you wanted to for a mall, and each one was controlled by a small computer inside it. You could have them doing all sorts of things without needing someone to constantly be there to control it. On the other hand, if someone figures out how to get control of them without permission, the show will get awkward.

Come with me if you want live.