Really inspiring. I really loved his comment about how there are always new opportunities and new waves for people to ride. This is something I've always personally struggled with, the feeling that everything has already been done and that I've missed the boat.
I guess a lot of these things are only obvious in hindsight. People are exploring all sorts of ideas right now, but it won't be obvious which ones are the winners and the losers until 10 years from now.
Depending how far down the ladder you go, some ideas take longer than that.
For example, geometric algebra, invented by Hermann Grassmann more than 150 years ago, is the biggest “new” idea in mathematical modeling of geometry, and it’ll probably take another 50 years more to percolate down throughout math education and physics and engineering practice.
Not the parent poster, but I have some experience of geometric algebra being promoted as a superior language for geometric computing. This started for me in the first year of university with a tutor who was keen to introduce bivectors (a GA concept) though officially they weren't on the syllabus. (Bivectors can represent 3D angular momentum in a slightly more useful way than straight vectors.) David Hestenes was presented as a bit of a hero, the pioneer of GA for physics. It didn't stick for me.
At Siggraph 2001 there were for the first time a couple of "GA for computer graphics" presentations given by Leo Dorst and Steve Mann. They were promoting GA as "the way" for doing geometric computations on computer. Dorst is an interesting and pleasant speaker and the apparent brashness of the "one true framework for geometric computing" claim didn't really colour his delivery of the presentation. Again, for me it just didn't stick, though the idea of a breakthrough in the design of geometric mathematics, with strong historical roots in the 19th C, was appealing.
Since then the GA bandwagon has rolled gently on but I haven't seen any killer apps produced so far.
Someone wrote about search engine early days before google, and how each time one came to the fore, they felt that that they were too late. Of course post-google, they really are too late! ...?
BTW I've nver been able to find this post again, I think it was by one of the geocities or tripod guys.
Yeah I've been feeling behind the wave since I didn't hop on the VR bandwagon when Oculus was on Kickstarter. But Carmack and Abrash both repeatedly emphasized how much work there is to do in almost any presentation they give.
Not to diminish Carmack's significance and genius, but, from waht I can tell from the first minutes of the interview, he knew he was going to be awarded, so je had plenty of time to prepare and rehearse his -- very inspiring, I should say -- speech.
For something like a decade (2004~2005 until 2013), Carmack gave a fluent hours-long speech/discussion/brain-dump at QuakeCon. I doubt a few minutes's speech is something he needs "plenty of time to prepare and rehearse" for at this point.
Carmack's talks are mind-blowing, he just talks off the cuff fluently for two-three hours and it's consistently interesting, it's completely insane. Here's one he gave at SMU in 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOzkUKJCxTw
Even with prep writing a speech that good isn't easy. Easier sure, but that's like the difference between a high wire act and a high wire act with bears waiting to eat your corpse.
That's fair, but I'm willing to bet that anyone who has a chance of receiving an award is well-prepared to give a speech. Executing the speech is difficult whether you are ready or not, and Carmack not only spoke well/fluently, but had a great message that was meaningful because it came from him and also, because it can resonate with anyone really.
John Carmack is such an inspiration. It was his early blog that taught me the techniques for raycast engines. I was working at an educational software company in my home town, we were doing a 2D educational game for Famous Five on a Treasure Island. I convinced my boss to allow me to make the bit where they go into a dungeon to be 3D, and I wrote a raycast engine for it. Not long after that, I used it to get my first job in the London games industry as a Playstation 1 lead programmer!
His willingness to share what he's learned must have given many programmers a boost, as it did with me. Well deserved.
I'd encourage anyone in the twittersphere to follow @ID_AA_Carmack. His musings there waste few words and he often tosses questions out there that will get you thinking.
Congrats to him on the BAFTA, but yes, he really is just getting started. I hope to see the fruits of his current labors but I'm not sure if I'm cut out for the VR tech as I'll most likely just puke on my shoes :-(
I guess a lot of these things are only obvious in hindsight. People are exploring all sorts of ideas right now, but it won't be obvious which ones are the winners and the losers until 10 years from now.