I am loving this latest competition by ASUS. Come on! It’s pure genius. Every single geek I know is busily beavering away at his or her computer in an attempt to get in on the action. It’s just such a perfectly tuned idea for people who love to tinker with their machines.
Ever since computers galloped onto the scene in the 1970s there have been people who love to spend all day just tuning and tweaking these computers to perfection. These are the humans who’ve helped us to advance dramatically in the field of technology. These are the people who hold me in a fascinated grip when they explain how they got their machine to squeeze out that little bit extra.
I’ve never been particularly gifted at “reading” components. I know what they do, and generally I know how to identify what bit is causing what problem. But I don’t have that gift of being able to almost sense what a piece can do, and then pushing it even further to get awesome results.
I know people who can do this. My brother is one of them. There were many cold winter afternoons sat by the bleeding innards of his PC as he clanked and scraped and stroked components into a weird technological frenzy. He wanted absolutely perfect graphics and did everything he could to get them on a limited budget. It was always really impressive.
So yes, PRIDE. Here people can take their motherboard stories and see them published for all the world to vote on and adore. Then they have a global audience watching their efforts, rating their genius, and getting them some great prizes.
For me, I like the bit where I don’t have to be a genius in order to win stuff. The voters stand a chance of winning prizes too. Awesome.
So, here is my question to you. Have you done something truly remarkable with an ASUS motherboard? Or (and this is my favourite) do you have a motherboard from 1999 still puttering around in your machine, working perfectly? Please upload it and then please comment here so I can race over to your video and see what you’ve done.
I can’t wait to see the entries myself. And I can see this becoming a massive time sink as I curl up on the sofa and watch the night away. I may not be a super geek with extrasensory technological powers, but I sure can appreciate it when I see the work of people who are.