I wonder if this stems somewhat from their marketing - they are trying to sell you a fashion accessory or perhaps symbol of status, not a gadget or a gizmo. At best it's a tool for trendy creative types, in the same way a wand is a tool for a wizard; Its a magic box not a glorified computer, a single crystal grown deep beneath The Valley of Silicon which the tech-priests then ensorcell using incantations passed down from the late grand master. An Iphone cannot be repaired because it does not break... it dies. Never forget the memories you shared with it, because they are irretrievable otherwise. Admitting it can be put right after a light drowning would perhaps dispel the magic.

That's my take anyway. Oh, and that they'd rather sell you a new thing that repair an old thing.

I suppose the irony is that most people will never see the genuine artistry and engineering excellence that goes into these things.

Her name reminds me of Gizmo.

I continue to be amused by the long lines of "inventors" of new gadgets, gizmos and things that go bing that are very simply re-discovering items that already exist. Case in point, the button hook, the button loop, the fastener loop or other names as it was known being rediscovered here. The original button hook, serving the same purpose as this device, was patented in 1851, with many variants following. Give yourself a pat on the back kids, and don't forget to pick up your trophy.

Recently saw a TV show, can't remember the name, where a secret organisation was using some magic coin or secret decoder gizmo. One look at it and I recognized they just painted a "spider" adapter for 45rpm vinyl records.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_rpm_adapter#The_Spider

Fallout 1 was a technically antiquated VGA (that's right, 640x480, 256 colours) post-apocalyptic turn-based tactical RPG where you could not control you team mates during combat. It was a bit buggy (and so was F2). It was Mad Max, without cars.

And yet.

Fallout is arguably the best world-building work in the history of video games. People are probably going to dispute that, but most other games are built on pre-existing lore or works, or do not have that scope*. Fallout built its world pretty much from scratch, conflating a pre-war 1950's, golden-era, overly-optimistic world-view with the bleak desolation of the nuclear holocaust that ensued (to clarify for those who really know nothing about Fallout: in this universe a nuclear war happened in the 50s**. all that's left is from that era). Beside its content which was plentiful in and of itself, this created a contrasted, yet highly coherent and mature world (and by mature I don't just mean killing friendly NPC, I mean doing Morally Very Bad Things that don't necessarily result in graphic scenes). An open world that you could roam freely, be surprised by a new discovery that you made, and at the same time find these discoveries to fit perfectly with the game's logic. In most large games you just access new areas or are carried by the story, in Fallout you would go "Holy shit I'm in the middle of a city populated by centenarian ghouls!", shortly followed by "ho, of course it's full of ghouls, that's perfectly normal". There are not many games that have this mix of unexpected/logical and dark/humorous content.

Fallout 2 had the same ho-my-God-how-could-they-get-away-with-it VGA engine (so next to zero evolution there), but quadrupled the world map (with a minimum overlap with the one from F1) and brought it fifty or so years forward, expanding the world greatly (there are now rival quasi-city-states, and your action may influence their future), while also building on the first one: some antagonists 'classes' from F1 have now grown their own identity and became NPC, and some characters are still around -- a young character you saved in F1 went back to her settlement, became its leader, built it into a town, and is now in the process of expanding it into a new state...So Fallout 2 is basically the same game, except they did that one important thing: push the game world's boundaries even more. You could never guess what next city would be like, but you could bet it would have some crazy shit in it, and yet somehow still make sense.

That's why many people don't like Fallout 3. It is not in itself a bad game, but comparatively, it's kind of coasting. Also it's too damn easy.

I'm sorry, I got carried away, you were asking if you should play the previous ones? No, you 'should' not. But you could, and for F1 & F2 you would certainly not lose your time if you know what you're getting into. And if you don't, at least go and watch their intro on Youtube, they'll give you the feel of the world.

* Possible contenders in terms of "original video game world": Elder Scrolls (vast, but less original), Deus ex (not as large), Bioshock (same), Final Fantasy (original and vast, but not as complex). Any other idea?
** Technically not the 1950s, but in practice the 50s + a bunch of high tech gizmo.

It would be nice if surveillance equipment (Stingrays, etc) were included in this list, but the rozzers are free to get all the military grade gizmos they need to keep tabs on your ass.

I think quite a few modern cars turn the engine off while you wait at lights, certainly I've been in one that did. It didn't start until you pressed the accelerator, at which point it turned back on effectively immediately.

Driving at 5mph isn't going to be an issue. If the system actually suggests anything like that, anything which would cause other drivers any particular concern, then it's not fit for purpose. Where did this notion of it suggesting you drive at that sort of speed come from?

That's not the main point...

This tech did NOT seem to take other drivers into account.

This tech is about traffic lights. The driver takes other drivers into account. It's no more this tech's fault if idiots use it to drive badly than it's GPS's fault when someone drives into a river by following incorrect directions.

A few people on this thread (@newtboy, @yellowc) seem to take the attitude that because idiots could drive badly as a result of using this then the technology is a bad thing. I fundamentally disagree. These are to assistant the driver, they don't drive. The human drives and whatever gizmos they use, the driver is responsible.

Reminds me of the 1977 classic Gizmo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EuZk3-crHg

How are you sure it's not an undercover cop pulling over a speeder.

Kids these days and their X-box gizmos, thinking need for speed gives them right to overdrive their prams.

Interesting looking gizmo, but it doesn't seem a whole lot faster than just splitting them with an axe.

We learn more and spend less money with Jet Propulsion Labs' mechnical gizmos doing the exploring for us than with men: we've learned more about the moon than those guys who went there brought back through robotic exploration. Also, as has been demonstrated, private enterprise builts better exploratory rockets. So why rely on NASA for anything: in fact, NASA, who just happened to take over administration of JPL, is now trying to take all the credit from JPL as NASA's doings.

Gizmo the cat!

With that walking stick and that hunch, looks more like Yoda.>> ^Kofi:

Gizmo was a Mogwai! Dear God

Gizmo was a Mogwai! Dear God

..live here, this happened ~

Anyone who drives one of these gizmos in Houston must be a tad "off".