I can still remember when I was 8, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Packard Bell with the Windows '95 operating system. Top of the line back then, with its less then 256mb Hard Drive, Floppy Drive, and a disc drive for the top of the line bit games of that generation. That was the era of the robust Dial-Up Internet, and the infancy of the only functional search engine which was Yahoo. I cant tell you how many hours I lost playing Doom on floppy Disk.
Fast forward another 3 years to 1998, Floppy has been on its way out with the higher data capacity CD. Also Windows 98 has been released allowing a faster CD friendly operating system. Diablo and Starcraft dominate the PC, and the world wide web becomes a stronger "web". Music can now be streamed and downloaded(Illegally) at a terribly low speed taking even days for 1 song. People are becoming aware of the numerous capabilities of what a computer can be used for, besides just being a giant calculator to do your taxes on.
Flash another 2 years into the future to 2000, Windows ME is released on a newer system, the first ever MSN messenger system has been out for over a year. Also other networks are coming into the picture such as America online, MSN, Prodigy, CompuServe, and the first ever PC Gamer marketed Gamespy Network. The Sims,Age of Empires II, Unreal tournament, and Counter Strike would be noteworthy for bringing more people into the fold of PC Gaming. Dial-Up connection is on its way out, to be replaced by an always on and steady broadband Internet connection. Friends and family alike are beginning to become hooked to the almost infinite possibilities of a computer.
Now at my end, we arrive to the year 2002, and everything has begun to change.The so fragile web of 7 years ago has grown so strong and sturdy, it would now resemble a woven sheet of fabric then an actual web. PC's are no longer needed to be bought mainly from the manufacturers of the operating software. Anyone can now build,maintain, and install whatever software and hardware they want on there machine. Games are now being developed solely for the purpose of online interaction with other players. The first ever open world environment online PC game would have to be Battlefield 1942. By first ever, I mean you had no walls holding you back or forcing you into this or that area. You also had functional vehicles,ships, and airplanes to fight it out on 64 player maps. (My opinion, I believe it was the forerunner of not the battlefield series, but the term of open "battlefield combat") The rest would be history, PC Gaming and the hardware with it would take off like a bullet leaving a gun.
------------------- My 2 Cents---------------------
Its astonishing to think what we as humans can accomplish if we come together and combine our collective knowledge in the pursuit of something we want to develop and honestly understand. Through vigorous work,time, and much trial and error, it is not inconceivable to believe that we can do much more then the basic need to play games, and talk to those who we have never met before.
So in conclusion, if it took us 20 years to become so far developed in virtual reality and advanced hardware for computers. Imagine what 20 years of focused hard work,time, and much trial and error, could do on a much needed technology? Where couldn't we go? and What couldn't we do?
This was
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