As for gaming

I personally do not play games on the computer...anymore...as I already spend most of my time working on computers...I really feel the need to enjoy other aspects of life....such as kids..significant other.....wine...etc

IMHO...gaming drives the hardware business...cause no end business user needs a P4, 120gig HD and a 256MB video card to run databases, excel, word processing and email...unless you are compiling, programing or using autocad etc

Although gaming did give me my start in computers...as I had to learn DOS to game back in the "old" days with my 286 ....where I had to remove the old game to make room for my new game to install on my 20MB HD...

Gaming also made me get familiar with hardware as I had to update my 2MB of RAM to 4MB (a $120.00)and upgrade my video card to run the new game....wow did that ever make a difference!!!

Now gaming is teaching my kids about computers....they know how to ctrl\alt\del to end rogue processes, how to scan for spyware...and finally...hit that old reset button..if all else fails

Teaching them now how to reset the dsl modem,router when their online gaming hangs up.."always start with the device closest to the wall"

As other people have mentioned in this thread...I believe it is the addictive personality that gets us started in computers....and keeps us there.
It is definately a "special breed" as most people just dont have patience, logic or common sense
and like TS ...I have redirected my addiction toward ...databases now

definately another vertical learning curve!!

But I love the challenge!!

MLF