Buyers' remorse / Pig in a poke

[jlindquist74]

Originally Posted by magnets

To be totally honest, I didn't use a 2012 or 2013 tablet, so I have no idea. I agree with your comment that previous games didn't rely on the responsiveness of the tablet. But I know that the 2011 tablets were about 1 second latency between your touch and the tube changing on the tablet screen.

Originally Posted by mathking

I used the panels in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and the response time was about the same in all three.

I know I'm not the only software engineer in the house. That this problem continues to exist... does anyone else find that professionally offensive? Look at the FMS, look at the tablet application, look at the tablet OS. Allen-Bradley HQ is a short drive from the Wisconsin Regional. I would've asked for a couple panel engineers to come out on practice day to observe and investigate if I had indications the OS was the bottleneck. We owe all of our kids (and everyone else's) better than this.

(Software's so wonderful. There's so many ways to Do It Wrong™!)

Originally Posted by Abhishek R

When I play soccer, I don't show up on Saturday and take the pitch with 10 random other people. Tell me one, since you claim "most," legitimate sport in which you have random teammates.

That's no bug. That's a beautiful FIRST feature I point out to others. You have to be ready to collaborate with strangers. Even better, you have to do it when you know you'll play against them in the next game. They'll know your weaknesses and strategies, and you still do it. Being bossy or arrogant will not serve you well here.

Sports is sports. FRC is FRC. We must be cautious about making either more like the other.

Originally Posted by mathking

At the start of the year (and even more after Crossroads) I have felt that what is needed are dedicated scorekeepers, so that a few more eyes are watching the match and the referees are focusing on fouls and not scoring.

But this is where it's needed. As scorekeeper for football, basketball, and lacrosse, I cannot see everything that happens on the field. The action is too fast, with too many actors over too wide an area. (Just like FRC!) My focus has to stay with the ball. I can't credit points, tackles, or assists properly if I'm looking for holding or fouls off the ball. The stripes don't do my job, and I don't do theirs.

Side note: I bought an iPad to develop scorekeeping software... using other people's software showed me what a bad idea this is. I have to look at the screen to be sure I touch the right spot, which means I'm not watching the action anymore. Give me something tactile, whether it's a keyboard or a button pad, that lets me keep my eye on the ball.


There's been a lot of talk in this thread about the importance of winning, or a desired lack thereof. If you want to de-emphasize it, it has to stop meaning anything. You can't do it in small measures. Stop keeping records, eliminate elimination brackets, and drop all invitations to CMP based on winning matches.

Does anyone else remember Ben Kingsley's line in Searching For Bobby Fischer? "To put a child in a position to care about winning and not to prepare him is wrong."

When you tell any of your kids that winning isn't important, or isn't that important, the flapping sound you hear is your credibility flying away. You say that, and they know you're full of it. They didn't spend six weeks of their lives building a robot to look good, run well, and play nice with others. They built it to win. (By, amongst other things, looking good, running well, and playing nice with others.) Don't pretend they didn't, if you want them to absorb anything else you say.

We've had a couple of bad days. Our robot broke down, or came up short. We rose in the standings but didn't get picked at alliance selection. Our Chairman's presentation got lousy marks. I didn't downplay that. I just told them that the joys and pains of winning and losing would fade over time, and pale next to the memory of the camaraderie of the weekend... the makeovers, the games of Spaceteam in the airport, or Cards Against Humanity in the hotel lobby. The mechanical and cooperative skills they build will carry them through their professional lives.

Winning still matters. And losing still hurts. And some people should be happy I don't have video of them getting hit in the junk by the launch spring during build season. Because man, that was priceless...