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I ride the train each week, and so I meet lots of interesting people. Last 
Sunday, I had the chance to sit next to this precocious 9-year old. The 
conversation soon settled in on the subject of video games. After a bit, he 
asked me, "What is the difference between 16-bit and 8-bit games?" 

I was just about to offer an explanation on bus bandwidth when I 
realized that the only type of bus he'd ever heard of was yellow and had 
flashing lights. So I took the challenge:

"Well, let's say you were a bus driver and had to get kids from the bus
stop to school. Would you rather take a bus that could hold 8 kids at a
time, or 16?"

"8 kids," he responded, to my wonder.

"Why?" I queried him.

"'Cause I like to drive."

So I said to myself -- okay, think up another example.

"Let's say there was this big pile of money in a room, and I gave you a 
minute to take as much of it as you wanted. Would you rather have a cart
that carries 16 pounds or a cart that only carries 8 pounds?"

His immediate response: "8 pounds".

Now, I was dumbfounded. His response to my immediate "Huh?!" was, 
"I don't like to have so much money." 

This really took me by surprise. Nevertheless, I plodded along with another
angle:

"Instead of money, let's say that were a pile of video games. Now which cart 
would you take? The cart that can hold 8-pounds, or the one that can hold 16?"

Guess what he told me. 

"8, because I wouldn't want to be spoiled."

After tearing my hair out and jumping up and down for the next 5 minutes, I
calmed down and realized that he was laughing up a storm. Here I was, being 
HAD by this kid half my age. He probably knew more about 16-bit video games
than I did.

Never underestimate the video game generation.

     -Kartik

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