9-year-old IT Wiz Says PC Games a Waste of Time

[mlauzon76]

Yeah, like we're going to listen to a 9-year-old kid, when pigs fly, and even then I doubt we'll listen to him.

 

[megamanx00]

Microsoft Certification. You know it's useful if a 9yr old can do it .

Really though that kid is pretty amazing even if I don't put much stock in Microsoft Certification. Of course PC games are a waste of time. That's the point. I didn't really learn to appreciate wasting time till I actually had to work all day. If you're going to spend 10 hours in front of a computer today, you may as well at least spend one of them doing something fun .

 

[zachary k]

this kid is just mad his mom wont buy him any of the cool M rated games. and its easy to specialize in something when a bunch of old farts in the school system are not trying to cram a little of everything in your head.

 

[darkguset]

"In fact, the adolescent prodigy believes there isn't anything "serious" about playing computer games. Instead, gamers should go outside and mingle with friends." - And all this in his infinite wisdom that he has gained in his... 9 years? Too bad for all the scientists and the multi-million dollar MRI's that prove that games stimulate the brain positively...
His next topic of discussion: How to run a successful marriage... (insert sarcasm here)
PS: There goes Dr.Phill's work as well...

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Why are prodigies always jerks? =( My feel goods got hurted.

I wouldn't be sane if I was away from my games, because I don't have the money for depression medication.

 

[aletoil]

Ill fund whatever this kid decides to do with my own money. Im 22 so I can see a return. On the other hand, he reminds me of some of the kids I met back in the day who took shit really seriously, and never lived truly in the moment. Its like they wanna future proof their talents, but never stop to see the forest for the trees. I don't suspect him having many friends his age or giving anything a chance if he finds it trivial.

 

[Guest]

Everyone's missed the point: Microsoft has kids doing their programming! Now it all makes sense....

 

[guruofchem]

I'm reminded of the immortal words of Tom Lehrer - "It's sobering to think that when Mozart was my age, he'd been dead for two years..."

Just wait for the hormones, folks - puberty is Hell...

 

[tkgclimb]

Man At one level I feel like holy cow this kid is talented and awesome, at another level I feel like, man he's a prodigy a natural genius, doesn't even have to work at it.

 

[ravewulf]

[citation][nom]heman1320[/nom]If this kid can cram HDTV through DSL why all the nonsense about coax becoming a bottle neck?[/citation]

Cause cable companies love using MPEG-2 for compatibility/being cheap instead of moving up to h.264/AVC.

The same bandwidth (8 Mbps) it takes for standard def. (480p) in MPEG-2 could be used for 1080p HD if they used h.264.

 

[eklipz330]

i bet he can't get over 900k on ttfaf on guitar hero 3 >.> now THAT is impressive.

 

[apocalypseap]

Well, he/she will never have a normal childhood and probably has no friends. Doesn't like video games? More like doesn't like fun. Way too serious - especially for a 9 year old. I feel bad for the kid because they'll probably never experience what fun actually is.

 

[matt87_50]

He's not wrong... but this is isn't news, games are entertainment, we all should know this.

but.. you know, good on him for being naturally awesome... just seems like the tipical A student really, except with computers...

Excuseme if I don't take life lessons from a 9 yearold...

 

[belardo]

Errr... MS certification is a bit of a joke. I remember fixing a PC for someone who just passed their certification. I didn't know much about PCs back then.

My 5yr old has his own PC, he is top in his class with computers and he can fully connect a PC and get onto the internet by himself. He watches me build/repair systems. But I doubt he'll be getting any business certification at 6, much less 9. There is only so much time to be a kid.

Also, perhaps certification in that country is far simpler? 20 questions? "What does CTRL ALT DEL" Do?

 

[efeat]

So he chastises one group of people for playing games, yet his second greatest passion is a game? I would think that someone as well versed in technology as he is would recognize that mental stimulation and exercise has just as much impact (if not more) as its physical counterpart.

 

[Guest]

Of course you can put HDTV down a DSL line - you could make it work on a 9600 baud serial link to a VT220 if you wanted to. The real question is, how bad are the compression artifacts? The ol' VT220 would have, um, "severe" artifacts (ever seen ASCII Quake?).

On the other hand, is it really that impressive becoming an MCSE? I've encountered a number of MCSEs that weren't smarter than a 5th grader.

 

[alchemy69]

He also believes in Santa Claus and thinks that girls have cooties so I'll pass on his opinions on PC games.

 

[reaver11]

Has this child never heard of the term LAN party? Grab 15 or so of your closest friends, go to whoever has the largest free space, fire up your computers, and just play.

And certified at 6? Well, like others I don't put much

 

[JonathanDeane]

Sure just buffer your video for the first 99% and any connection could host 1080P video...

This reminds me I can't wait for Docsis 3.0 to take off more.

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOCSIS

 

[reaver11]

Has this child never heard of the term LAN party? Grab 15 or so of your closest friends, go to whoever has the largest free space, fire up your computers, and just play.

And certified at 9? It really sounds like he was deprived of the "mingling with friends" that he is recommending to us. Especially with school, teaching, his system administrator job, as well as other computer use. Besides, despite his obvious intelligence, he seems to young to have truly enjoyed some of the older great PC games, such as StarCraft, Diablo, System Shock, Doom, Baldur's Gate, among others.

And taking his advice personally, how the hell am I supposed to spend quality time with my best friends when 1 of them is in Korea and the other in Afghanistan, when I work full time and do full time school? If he can find a way to make that happen, then I'm all for it. But somehow I think it will in some way involve a computer.