Editing 2221: Emulation
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 2221 | | number = 2221 | ||
− | | date = October | + | | date = October 29, 2019 |
| title = Emulation | | title = Emulation | ||
| image = emulation.png | | image = emulation.png | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by RUNNING DOSBox ON WINDOWS 10. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | In this | + | In this comic, software that [[Cueball]] is emulating is having a conversation with Cueball, who is bemused by the fact that the software still thinks that it is the 1980s. |
− | + | The first personal computers in the 1970s didn't have internal hard drives, and indeed, even when it became common practice to include storage, it was often [https://www.computerworld.com/article/2473980/data-storage-solutions-143723-storage-now-and-then.html#slide6 very limited] for the everyday user's needs {{w|File:Hard drive capacity over time.svg|until the 2000s}}. Because of this, large programs such as games or specialized editors had much of their code reside on an external disk such as a floppy (traditionally drive A: on IBM-compatible PCs) or a CD-ROM (traditionally drive D: or E: on IBM-compatible PCs). However, the speed at which data could be loaded from such devices was {{w|List_of_interface_bit_rates#Storage|very slow}}, requiring anywhere from ten seconds to ten minutes to load a level or an advanced dialog box. Software, for this reason, had to be built around these limitations, incorporating some feedback mechanism to let the user know the program was proceeding as intended. These included animations or minigames which were sometimes timed to the exact time the loading took, since external drives were fairly consistent across manufacturers. | |
− | + | {{w|Emulation}} is a method to allow programs designed form one computer to run on another. In some cases, emulation is used to recreate much older computing environments. When emulating programs that assume their information is stored on external drives, the emulator requests the user to specify where the file is located (Cueball's click). However, on a modern computer with hundreds or thousands of Gigabytes of space, users of emulators often just keep those files locally (often even in the same directory), which makes them load near-instantaneously. This can lead to the loading feedback appearing to be comically sped up, so that in this case, the anthropomorphic program expresses surprise and remarks on the speed of the user's disk drive. | |
− | + | Cueball decides to not [https://knowyourphrase.com/burst-your-bubble burst his anthropomorphized program's bubble] and responds that the file loaded quickly because of a new floppy reader from {{w|Memorex}}, the industry leader in floppy disks and drives. | |
− | In the title text, Cueball references the {{w|Simulation hypothesis|living in a simulation}} trope, mentioning that it is not fully clear that he is actually living in 2019. | + | Programmers of the era often assumed either that conditions of the time would last longer than they did (such as {{w|Year 2000 problem|representing a year with two characters}}) or that the program wouldn't be used for long (such as a game portraying the president in the likeness of whoever was president at the time the program was made). In this case, the program casually asks how President Reagan is doing, further anthropomorphizing the program into a being that believes no time has passed since it was compiled (in contrast to [[2189: Old Game Worlds]]). |
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+ | {{w|Ronald Reagan}} was the President of the United States from 1981-1989, when early PCs were on the rise. He died in 2004, 15 years before the publication of the comic. This is why Cueball seems slightly uncomfortable with [[222: Small Talk|noncommittally]] telling the software Reagan is "fine." | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the title text, Cueball references the {{w|Simulation hypothesis|living in a simulation}} trope, mentioning that it is not fully clear that he is actually living in 2019. Such as in {{w|The Matrix}}, which has been [[:Category:The Matrix|referenced some times]] in xkcd. That we are living in a simulation was also the subject of the comic [[505: A Bunch of Rocks]]. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Computers]] | [[Category:Computers]] | ||
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