Words On Wednesday

The mobile version of Runescape recently entered beta release, and I was so excited to get into the program and try it out. Runescape mobile (not Old School RuneScape, as that was ported to mobile several months before the RuneScape 3 mobile beta) allows players to access the game through a genuinely mobile platform, rather than my unconventional access via remote desktop. With this release, there are some improvements over remote desktop access, but also some surprising shortcomings. Having played now for a few weeks, I have an informed opinion on the abilities and limitations of the mobile beta. I’ll go through a few of the elements for each platform, and evaluate which is better, or which I plan to continue using. First, the mobile beta is currently only accessible to paid members. Fortunately, that includes players who purchase membership through bonds as I do, but I did not have an active membership when I got into the beta program. I was already planning on using a bond agai...

So many people feel pressured to buy a new smartphone every year or two, but is it really necessary? Why can’t we get a mobile device and stick with it? A common rule of thumb known as Moore’s law  will tell you that computer processors double in speed and performance capabilities roughly every 2 years. This pace has held true for decades, and has only begun to slow down in the past 5 years or so. Over roughly the past half of a decade, the progress hasn’t necessarily come to a screeching halt, but it has slowed dramatically. What does this mean for the technology industry? Well, a lot of things, but one thing in particular is that new versions of CPU chips are going to be smaller and smaller improvements over previous versions. Year over year, the latest and greatest won’t be so much greater than last year’s model. On some fronts, this is a good thing. Hopefully, it’ll force the hands of chip manufacturers into reducing prices. How specifically does this affect the mobile te...