Well, back in the cave-man days we had this thing called a library. Libraries are huge buildings filled with shelves of these things called books. Books are bound papers filled with words about things of interest. In the olden days, when we were bored, we would go to this library and read books on any subject imaginable. One day, I read a book on computers and said, "Wow, that's rad" (as was the style in the day). So I begged and pleaded with my parents to buy me a computer. They found a used Commodore 64 at a garage sale and bought it for $50. It came with all kinds of manuals (manuals are a type of book filled with technical knowledge). One manual taught me how to use the computer, how to program in BASIC, how to load programs from floppy disks and all sorts of wonderful things.
My C-64 finally melted one day (yes, melted, one of the heat sinks went bad). So I was without a computer for a while. But by then computers were being introduced to schools. Apple IIes, Mac Classics, etc. My next computer was a 286 clone. That's where the fun really began. I learned of the wonderful world of upgrades.
Once more, I went to a library to brush up on how to upgrade my computer. I read of an interesting device called a "Modulator-Demodulator" which would allow my computer to talk to another computer anywhere across the phone lines. So, I saved up my money for a 300 baud modem (blazing fast speed!) and learned to install it from the instructions which came with it.
By now, the library carried computer-related magazines. From these I learned that my computer was horrible and that I'm a horrible person for owning such an old machine.
By now, games were better on the computer than they were on my old NES. So, I saved up my meager allowance till I could afford a super-computer, a 486! "PC games are so sweet," I said in the style at the time. I also learned from other people that I'm a sucker for buying a pre-made machine. I could save hundreds of dollars if I built it myself. So I started to read up on the subject on multiple Bulletin-Board Systems (BBS's being a poor-man's internet). I learned enough from these and other books and magazines on what piece does what, and what I'd need for a killer Pentium system.
Bought all the pieces from local shops after shopping around for the best prices. Put it together and viola! It didn't work! So I took it all apart, put it back together and tried again, and again, and again until I got everything just right. I had an awesome beige box full of the power to run Doom at lightning fast speeds.
Everything beyond that point is iterations of higher speeds and better games. Also, the internet, I guess that became important too.
Moral of the story: go read a book.
