Author: Jonathan Parle
Date: 19:46:22 01/16/02
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On January 16, 2002 at 13:00:36, Roy Eassa wrote: >In a similar vein, I suppose it wouldn't be too hard to invent a small wireless >device to hook to the DGT board and a companion small wireless device to hook to >the PC in another room in the house (can be a couple floors away I hope) so that >it seems to both that they are directly connected. > >Anybody know of a solution of this sort that's available today? > > >On January 16, 2002 at 12:57:44, Roy Eassa wrote: > >>Your idea of linking the DGT board to the Palm or PPC is a great one. Do you >>plan to pursue it? Would such a device's design be patentable? >> >>I would not buy a DGT board to hook to my PC because of desk-space issues (and >>of course price!). But having it in another room, far away from the PC (which >>is not a portable) and using it as a normal chessboard some of the time and as a >>user interface to the chess programs on the Palm/PPC other times, would be a >>real possibility. >> >>Go forth, build it, and get rich! >> >> >>>On January 14, 2002 at 23:25:13, Jonathan Parle wrote: >>> >>>>I reckon the golden days were 1982 to 1989. Maybe that's because during that >>>>period, dedicated machines well and truly exceeded me in playing ability, as was >>>>the case for 99% of chess players. It would be really nice to see you still do a >>>>program for a dedicated machine every now and then, but it looks like Frans >>>>Morsch has that market sewn up??? I know most people on this board are more >>>>interested in the latest software, but for me there will never be a substitute >>>>for the good old dedicated machines. >>> >>>I really don't see why this need be a limitation. Just find a way to link a >>>Pocket PC, Palm, or some other very small unit, to a DGT board (for example) and >>>you'll have a modern modular dedicated unit. Not to mention plenty more >>>possibilities than what those dinky screens and interfaces offered (no offense >>>meant to the authors). >>> >>> Albert It can also depend on precisely how you define "dedicated". My criteria is pretty strict and that is the machine is capable of no other function whatsoever other than playing chess. So whilst you could set up a Palm or Pocket PC to only ever play chess, the device itself still remains a utility device capable of performing non chess related functions. I agree such a device would be quite novel and handy, but if I was going to go that far, I'd probably just be inclined to fire up one of my PC programs and play through the moves on an external board (that may or may not be connected to the PC). Yes, times change, particularly computer technology. But to me there will never be a substitute for a fully integrated device whose singular purpose is none other than to play chess. I guess this rather odd point of view of mine stems from my early adulthood being in the early 80's when such machines were the only focus of (a huge amount of) attention. Once the programs started to migrate to the PC / Windows CE platform, it just wasn't quite as interesting anymore. Maybe this was partly because their playing strength became so much stronger than mine, that keeping track of the ups and downs in their games became quite a lot harder for me to do. And there was still, to me, a certain "something" about the program being irrevocably hard-coded onto a piece of silicon rather than sitting as an .exe and .dll file on the hard drive of a general purpose computing device. I tend now to play games between dedicated machines and / or PC programs that are rated somewhat below Fritz, and then let Fritz show me how one side or the other is really going!!
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