The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 04, 1996, Page 6, Image 6
Generation X
PAIGE HAGGARD Staff Writer
The Puppet Regime, a theatrical student
organization at USC, will present its final showing
of "Savage in Limbo" April 4 at 8 p.m. in the
Benson Theatre. "Savage in Limbo" is a concert
play by John Patrick Shanley that runs about
one nour ana iu minutes wiui no imerwissiuu.
The play takes place during the mid- 1980s
(it was written in 1985 to be exact) and is about
five 28-year-olds. It is named for one of the
characters, Denise Savage, and is probably a
reference to Dante's The Divine Comedy," but
then again, isn't everything?
The action takes place in a Bronx bar called
Scales on a Monday night. Most of the characters
are experiencing a sort of late-20s crisis ? they
realize their lives are going nowhere and fast.
Two of the characters, Savage and Linda Rotunda,
still live at home with their parents, and another,
April White, is a drunk. It's a veiy Gen X play
before anyone had realized there was a pattern
to the various crises of the Generation.
The turnout on Tuesday night was quite good.
"Devolution' ti
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, last ye
the computer industry has a new a good
announcement for you: Welcome to the the yi
devolution! Windo
What do I mean by "devolution?" a 12 p<
Well, 1 mean that you're about to see mc
your computer "devolve" into what techno PC sol
isionaries like to call an "information slightly
ippliance." In other words, some PCs saturat
will soon be akin to a stereo, toaster, is in a I
)lender or other ordinary household technolevice.
The an
Why? Market trends of course! You theinf<
iee, companies are starting to see fewer custom
ustomers for traditional hardware and can eve
oftware offerings. In ?
According to the market research is all tl
irm Dataquest Inc., growth in the home IBM, C
>C market is expected to almost halt in already
.997 at 0.7 percent, and by 1998 it could While tJ
ictually be declining. This is because vaiy, th
louseholds earning $100,000 or more a T
ear, the prime PC market, have become often s
aturated with PCs. price.
The news isn't much better in the T
oftware market. The Software CD-RC
'ublisher's Association reports PC comm;
oftware sales increased by only 12 percent and/oi
play earns 'Sa
Though seating is limited, there were very few ai
open seats. R
The set was small, the stage intimate, very M
appropriate for the number of "to-audience" ui
references in the play. There was a small bar, a M
couple of tables and a few chairs. The floor and gi
walls were painted black and then splattered es
with other, brighter paint giving the illusion of ui
everything floating in space, a visual sort of limbo, cl
There was quite a musical selection while
waiting for the play to begin ?The Jackson 5, rc
Rap Haas ("Jive Talking." no less). Nirvana, even' ir
Velvet Underground (complete with Nico). Music lii
was used for each character's entrances, Bjork la
for Savage and Portishead for Murk, the bartender, p
and April. ir
The characters came onto stage from the a]
audience, a significant device to illustrate the c<
similarity between audience members and the w
play's characters. The acting overall was very d<
good. The Bronx accents were fairly good and
consistent Meg Madden played a very believable, b
yet not too overt, drunkard as April White. As p:
Tony Aronica, Frank Maharajh Jr. was egotistical tl
"end forebodes
ar. That might sound like it was telephone modems.
1 year. But, when one considers focus on television
ear included the release of CD-ROM access.
ws95 and accompanying software, They are eas
ercent rise wasn't so hot. get under the hood
et analysts are concluding PC and There is little or nc
ftware sales will plateau or dip is very little to confi
in coming years because of market very little to expani
ion. So, the computing industry info appliance fo<
)ind. What do you make for the standardization ar
customer who has everything? use.
swer: Create a new technology, They are fa
) appliance! That way, current appliances will come
ers will want it, and maybe you microprocessors cou
n get more customers! fast data connectic
Silicon Valley, the info appliance will also start u
te rage. Companies like Apple, fraction of the time
)racle, Sun and Microsoft are to wait for a conven
j making plans to sell it to you. boot. The goal of de
le specifications of these machines the instant gratifr
ey do have a few basic similarities: most current house
hey are cheap. $500 or less is They are consi
tated by companies as a target info appliances focus
instead of a produce!
hey are wired. Most will feature and games. You acc
)Ms, hookups for standard PC But, your machine i
ports, as well as cable modems games or being a s<
ISDN and/or conventional The first out o1
nVGTT
ind Drill
mm
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e in to 90.5 this Friday
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Listen to to
lit I 2
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Listen to 98.5 HI to find on
vage' review
id womanizing. Tawnya Pamplin played Linda
otunda strong, loud and large gestures, and
[ichelle Affronte's Denise Savage was
iderstandably confused, bordering on hysterical,
[att Engle played Murk, the bartender, and
ive the strongest performance of the group,
pecially considering his character was somewhat
aderstated compared to the other flamboyant
laracters.
The play was amusing, with enough sex
sferences and use of the "f-word" to keep the it
tteresting and enough pithy statements about
e to make it seem deep. Yet there was something
icking in the play. Part of this is intrinsic to the
lay, written into its many melodramatic
lonologues. The characters in this play are lost
ad are beginning to realize this. So, there was
jrtainly a lot of whining and yelling, but there
ere too many words flying to really convey
ssperation.
T il 1 - -1 L
in ine ena, none 01 tne cnaracujns weie any
etter off for all their ranting and raving ?
robably the point of the play, yet the irony of
le backside is lost in all the talk. There's nothing
end to PCs, c
These machines will concept has been Apple1
, stereo, Internet and its product called Pippii
down Macintosh ? it dc
sy. You don't have to with a keyboard. The Pi
with these machines, game and CD-ROM p]
> storage space. There Internet access. Apple n
gure and page about t
i on. The ?? ? http://www.pip
:uses on At this point,
MMMt : i MM
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.n
hosting the Locals Oi
. ?.
PKHHOH
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1 out about our CD, Tapi
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I ME
a $10 plena
it what other prizes yen
id ease of only being mai
?j?Sj3m under Apple'
s t. I n fo with Bandai, i
with fast (% JM maker,
pled with Micrc
ins. They industry splas
pin the announcini
you have I EUhtN/BAifnLc develop a Sim
tional PC Marc LaFountain PC (SIPC). T1
signers is be able to cont
cation you get with video disk player, securi
ihold apphances. more while allowing you t
lmer machines. Most play interactive games. L
on you as a consumer is availabl
\ You play CD-ROMs http^/www .microeoftcam/c
ess Internet servers. 96/apr96/sipcpr.htm.
sn't capable of writing Oracle, which has bee
srver. behind the info appliance
f the gate with this have any info on the \
GEH
>e Extra
j|r ^2p
$ '"" ?$m'?Sil^uBp^ i
e at The info appliance may be the next
orpinfo/press/19 computing revolution, but it goes against
our last computing revolution ? the
n a major force desktop computer. The desktop computer
* craze, doesn't is a revolution because our society wrestled
veb about its power away from dominating mainframes
ivaganz
WAN
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i and Poster Giveaway
E lill1
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e to w u s C i Q
can get tor making a pledge.
- : : :
Matt Engle and Frank Maharajh Jr. practice thai
in Umbo" at Benson Theatre. Tonight is the fina
presented by the Puppet Regime, a theatrical sti
savage in this play other than in name. in its
In all fairness, the play is veiy entertaining, will pi
Tt Viqg ifo Kawrtu nwmpnk and is rplflfivplv arcurate make
xeates new 'info
Computer with Network Computer that I could find,
a. It's a paired There have been press accounts of Oracle
lesn't even ship demoing the machine at industry
ppin is used for conferences, and the company has
[aying and for committed to selling it for under $500.
laintains a web A lot of people ask me whether or not
he product at I think the info appliance will be a good
pin.apple.com/. thing. My answer is yes and no. It is good
, the Pippin is in that we need fast, cheap, easy
keted in Japan connectivity for the masses. But, there
s partnership are downsides:
a Japanese toy ' MacUser magazine had a cover
story on "The $500 Mac," but the Pippin
>soft made an isn't a true Mac. And, despite what these
h this week by companies might say, an info appliance
g it plans to is not a true PC. A personal computer
ply Interactive has lots of memory, numerous avenues
le product will of expansion and customization, and it
rol your stereo, can be used to serve data to other
ty system and computers. In other words, it is a jacko
web surf and of-all-trades machine that allows you to
^ press release be both provider and consumer.
wim m
** a A
ROBERT WALTON The Gamecock
r lines before the start of "Savage
i performance of the play, which Is
ident organization at USC.
aim. Though it won't change vour life, it
ebably make you think, and it will definitely
you laugh.
appliances'
and gave it to individual users. Now, the
#info appliance will reverse that process
and leave its users server-dependent
once again.
An info appliance is an example of
planned obsolescence. It isn't a
customizable, expandable machine. Ifs
a static one. Thus, when things rapidly
change (as they always do in computing),
it will be hard for the info appliance to
keep place. So, you will likely have to go
buy yourself a new info appliance every
few years. I'm sure Silicon Valley relishes
the thought!
So, get ready for your new info
appliances, because they are on the way.
Just remember the motto you should
always use when shopping for any
appliance: "Let the buyer beware!"
Marc LaFountain, a journalism senior,
/v-<y? Ao In-fruoAn
KAuUl> UC C'/f(UUCU UO IUfUlWHUM?
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