The Growth Of Online Technology And Its Use In Gaming Services

It sort of goes without saying that, as time goes on, technology gets better and better across the board.

Whether that’s the software or the systems we use for services online or the physical hardware we use to access them like phones and laptops.

Both of these are contributing factors so we’ll take a look at both of them here today starting with the software side of things, then we’ll jump into the hardware we all use on a daily basis.

Okay, so. When I talk about how software has come a long way, I don’t just mean how we all now use Discord instead of MSN for our instant messaging on our PC’s. I don’t mean how Your Photoshop Creative Suite now has a million more functions than CS1 had and I don’t mean how vastly different Grand Theft Auto 1 is to Grand Theft Auto 5. Though those are some glaringly obvious ways to look at how much software has changed over the years, as well as the way those things are developed.

Social media is just one of many areas where we’ve massively moved forward. Source: Geekwire

It’s more about how, when you look at things on a core level, the WAY software runs now is so much more efficient than it ever has been in the past. Long gone are the days of the terrible, hard-to-navigate user interface and long loading times. Though I will admit, being able to make a cuppa while I wait for something to load was pretty efficient. These days I can’t even make a cuppa while my PC boots thanks to SSD speeds, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Given our need for social interaction, the internet has grown so much, I remember being a late teen (18+ of course) spending some of my first pay packet gambling with online slots and poker, the systems were archaic at best. You’d sit around a digital poker table, with barely any animations to show you what was going on other than the cards in play, your own cards and the money on the table. Then the slots I’d play were extremely basic and pretty limited in WHAT you had and WHERE you could play them. But that was the early 2000s.

From news websites to browser-based gaming, as well the inclusion of new online casinos, betting apps, and igaming services have shown that times changed drastically for the better. Those online poker tables I mentioned are now a great social experience, with chat rooms in the lobby before you even select a table, chat rooms and silly things like emoticons or a virtual avatar for around the table and then the online slots industry has grown massively. There are other websites like broad – best site for sports betting to check out if you’re interested.

Now you have an insane variety of games as well as a wide array of bonus types and themes. Things are much smoother and way more efficient now, not to mention the fact you can play all of these things on a device you can now fit in your pocket. Given when I was 16 I still had a sliding Samsung E900, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me I could play slots on my phone and hopefully make a bit of cash OR played poker with friends, or randoms I guess online.

This brings us nicely into the way hardware has advanced. Firstly, those devices we all carry in our pockets? Well, those things are WAY more powerful than you could imagine. You have the entire internet at your fingertips but not only that, but if you look at the processors, the memory, the storage, and the GPU’s these devices house in such a small package, including a full HD, or in some cases ULTRA HD high refresh rate screen, they’re WAY more powerful than the first PC’s we ever used.

A supercomputer this size right now would have unfathomable specs compared to the very first supercomputers. Source: The Clever

Put it this way. The world’s first SUPERCOMPUTER had the following specs. A 64-bit processor running at 80MHz, 8.39MB of memory, 303MB of storage, AND this thing was bigger than a person, we could go more in-depth, but realistically that’s all we need to know. Now, for comparison. In my pocket, I have a Google Pixel 6 Pro. The specs of that? 8 core processor (2x 2.8GHz cores, 2x 2.25GHz cores, and 4x 1.8GHz cores), 12GB of memory, and a 128GB internal hard drive. Not to mention the fact it has a proper GPU and a 120Hz, HDR10+ AMOLED 1440p screen and it’s all pocketable. What a crazy change in a little over 60 years.

But the crazy thing is that even though those specs are ridiculous for a pocketable device, you can scale up to a laptop and have full desktop specs available to you now. Meaning you can now have with you in a backpack, a full desktop-grade editing rig, meaning if you do video editing or photography you can work on things on the go without compromise, apart from maybe price, given you do end up paying a premium to have those specs in the form factor of a portable machine.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier about loading times, given how easy it is to get your hands on an SSD these days, more and more software is being made with SSD read/write speeds in mind, meaning software and game developers are cutting loading times that were already drastically cut down by the fact the hardware involved. As a hyper impatient man, this is something I personally love to see.

And that’s going to do it for this one. The growth of technology on all fronts has been very interesting to see, especially for a giant nerd like me, long may it continue, HOWEVER hopefully the acquisition of hardware becomes easier for the everyday consumer over the next few years. Acquiring a 3080 for my gaming rig was certainly a chore, BUT at least I got it for retail instead of lining scalpers pockets eh? Until next time, take care folks!