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Wild theories - playing SB 20 years later


daskal

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Don't get me wrong for being a bit pessimistic, but on this side of the world things are going down, and in rapidly accelerating pace. I was thinking to myself that the dongle we use with SB has it's lifespan, I have it since the beginning, but I doubt it will function in 10 years - because its a piece of plastic after all... well there is always a replacement - or is it? - what if eSim goes out of business or won't be around in 10-20 years or so :o ehmm this would mean no more dongle, no more SB? (hope eSim will be around though!)

This thing just popped into my mind... I mean on my youtube channel where I have a bunch of SB videos I am getting like 10-15 messages per week asking for "where to download" SB... And I am always going back to them, buy the damned thing, its worth the money, and support the developers. Besides, you can actually download it - you just won't be able to use it without a dongle + license.

I have a couple of things that I am really fond of and SB is one of them, I mean even if it will remain in this state as it is (like v2.640) I am still 100% sure that I want to be playing this sim 50 years later as well :D or at least would want it - the software will stand the test of time, since its available digitally - I ain't sure about having a working dongle at that time though :S

I know I am a bit of track, but hey one has to think ahead :D

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I am still 100% sure that I want to be playing this sim 50 years later as well :D or at least would want it - the software will stand the test of time, since its available digitally - I ain't sure about having a working dongle at that time though.

Well its not been 50 years yet but I don't see much DOS or CPM based software still running on home machines.

Sure some of the big iron still run FORTRAN and COBOL but thay are in large companies where "change management" tends to revolve around whose turn is it to buy the milk.

I suspect if Windows 700 does have some sort of "compatability box" it may not reach back to 2011 software in 2060. :)

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I love the updates and realize the Pro PE is an offshoot of military software. But at some point software updates hit a commercial diminishing return. At some point support for Pro PE will have to be weighed against a completely new, or updated program or sim, or ending the support for Pro PE period. Just my thoughts.

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As long as eSim Games exists, nobody needs to worry. There will always be some solution. CodeMeter sticks can be bought from Wibu Systems directly. If eSim Games would close doors, I suppose there would be a "fire sale" of surplus sticks, or I would invite people to buy themselves new sticks and transfer the existing licenses on the new sticks. That should at least give you another five to ten years lifetime.

Frankly, I don't see us going out of business in the next five years (not even beyond that, but there is no certainty in the future; five to approximately ten years are our "event horizon" for business decisions). Therefore I think that you are "safe" until at least 2020. That's "just" one decade, but as long as the fundamental data aren't changing you'll always be safe for the next ten years. Therefore, if we're still there in 2020, you can be reasonably certain that you will still be able to play SB Pro until 2030 (if you aren't sick of it by then).

at some point software updates hit a commercial diminishing return

As long as our software stays relevant for the training of our military customers, the biggest strategic threat to our business is a sudden outbreak of world peace. A realistic view on human nature suggests that this is ... unlikely. Another fundamental threat would be the obsolescence of the Personal Computer as a viable hardware platform. Whether the migration to a different platform is economically feasible remains an open question - but again, if SB Pro delivers what our customers need, and if they want it on a different platform, there is overwhelming evidence in IT history that applications by far outlive hardware and operating systems.

Arguably Windows Seven is still a souped up Windows NT which started with a Win 3.11 user interface, and most applications that weren't made for a short lifetime are still there. If you look at a Word 2.0 document you can probably still open it in the current Microsoft Office version. And it's the same with many, many other applications.

Hey, does anyone know why the original DOS command prompt (and the "CMD" console in Win 7) was (and still is) 25 lines of 80 characters?

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Greetings,

It's not limited.

1. Run cmd.exe

2. Click on the icon in the upper left hand of the screen.

3. Select Properties

4. Select the Layout tab

5. Set the buffer and window widths to whatever you like.

6. Click OK

7. Select Save Properties for future...

8. Click OK.

Some references:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/319305/why-is-the-windows-cmd-exe-limited-to-80-characters-wide

And it's probablly left over from the DOS days where CRT displays were 80 characters wide.

Later,

9erRed

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It's not limited.

...no longer. But the default dimensions are still 25 lines x 80 char.

And it's probablly left over from the DOS days where CRT displays were 80 characters wide.

No.

Hint 1:

It goes back much deeper into history.

Hint 2:

The patent was awarded in 1928.

Hint 3:

Patent holder was the IBM corporation.

Solution:

It's a punch card format, also source of the traditional email line width of 80 characters.

This is just an illustration how long certain infrastructure decisions will live on across generations of computers, and multiple operating systems, even if the source has long become obsolete.

Another example would be the railway gauge width which was chosen after the Roman Empire standard road width which again was designed to let two horse carts pass each other.

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