The Bit-Tech Christmas Wishlist 2013

Gareth Halfacree

News reporter and ye olde hardware enthusiast

Intel NUC D54250WYB
To say I have a shortage of ultra-compact, low-power computing devices in my life would be an outright lie. I can pick up three or four with an outstretched arm without getting up from my desk, and if I head to the cupboard over yonder I can find a dozen more from numerous Raspberry Pis - undoubtedly the Tribbles of the single-board computer world - to the Fignition, a homebrew build-it-yourself system based on the all-but forgotten FORTH programming language.

But I still want a NUC. Sure, it doesn't have the GPIO capabilities of an Olimex OLinuXino, or the low power draw of a BeagleBone Black. It makes up for both of these, though, in usability and performance. Stick a copy of Linux on one of Intel's small-footprint marvels and I'd be golden - but not to the point where I can justify the sharp end of £300 on something that will see relatively limited use unless I decide to retire my AMD APU-based desktop.
That said, if I did receive a NUC under the tree this festive period, I'd hug it and squeeze it and never let it go. I promise, this isn't like the hamster I got when I was ten. The NUC probably won't bite me, for a start.

The Stanley Parable
Yes, Santa, I'm aware that this only costs a tenner on Steam - or £5.99 as part of Valve's Steam Winter Sale. I figured that with the global economy like it is, I'd maximise my chances of getting something by opening with a moonshot and settling for a weekend in Paris. So to speak.

I recently made the decision that I'm going to do my best to avoid hyper-violent games. Perhaps it was playing Spec Ops: The Line that did it, or reading Brendan Keogh's critical reading of the game that did it; perhaps I'm just getting old. Either way, the thought of yet another game where I shoot yet another cookie-cutter enemy in the face - or the nads, yes, thank you Soldier of Fortune, I do remember - doesn't appeal like it once did.

So, I'd like The Stanley Parable, a mind-breaking game of exploration and reactive narration, for Christmas. Hold on a minute, though, Santa, you don't get off that easily - this is going to take a little bit of your famous Christmas magic. You see, I'm one of those Linux user types - and The Stanley Parable launched as a Windows exclusive. Since then, it's been ported to Apple's OS X but there's still no sign of a Linux version despite vague promises from its developer. So, Santa, if you could handle porting it across to Linux I can take it from there. Cheers, tubby.

A Microcomputing Boom
I know you already got me one of these back in the 80s, Santa, but aren't we overdue a replacement? Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I can buy pretty much any computer from almost any manufacturer - I'm looking at you, Apple, as the exception here - and know it'll run my software just fine without modification, but isn't that a little... boring?

Remember the 80s? Remember the Sinclair Spectrum, the BBC Micro, the Commodore 64, the TRS-80, the Grundy Newbrain, the Altair bus systems that we mere mortals could only drool over? Remember how everything had its own flavour of BASIC - mostly licensed from Microsoft, it has to be said - necessitating keyword conversion charts to make code written for one work on the other? Wasn't it great?

What do you mean, no? Well, anyway, I thought it was - and it's something I'd like to see again. There are hints that it is happening in the world of ARM-based single-board computers, largely thanks to the marketing department of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and its stunning work in finding buyers for more than two million cut-price microcomputers. Okay, that's not exactly threatening the Commodore 64's sales record - up to 17 million, depending on whose figures you believe - but it's still impressive for a bare-bones system running Linux.

C'mon, Santa, I know you can make this happen. All-in-one, ARM-based PCs built into keyboards - with wireless display support, if that's not too much trouble - so I can relive the heyday of the home computing revolution. Make a model with dead-flesh rubber keys, while you're at it - ooh, and a modern version of the excellent MOS Technologies SID chip, why not.

Thanks in advance Santa. Have a great Christmas everybody!