[TML] Does "Operation Reset" Make Sense?

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 12/5/07 1:02 AM, Timothy Little wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 07:02:48AM -0500, Jerry W Barrington wrote:
>> Given how tech reverted in Twilight 2000, the chips themselves seem
>> just about useless.
> 
> Even the pessimistic misquote "I think there is a world market for
> about five computers" would seem to attribute more importance to chips
> than that :-)
> 
> (It was supposed to have been said in 1943, when computers had vastly
> less processing power than even a single 80's chip)
> 
> 
> I expect the fuss in Twilight 2000 over it was not the prospect of
> reviving a digital society, but in being able to apply the processing
> power directly to specific problems that would benefit.  At that time
> in the setting they're probably working on slide rules and a few
> antique mechanical adding machines.

The *desire* to apply the chips is all well and good.  But what about the
*ability*.  Even a 6502 chip (powered the Commodore 64) isn't that
spectacular of a chip, but it still takes a whole mess of other stuff to
make a functional computer out of it.  Given how Twilight's overall tech
ability was trashed, I still think the chips would have been useless,
because of all the other things you don't have anymore.