This was the first videodisk game, and its glorious cartoon graphics created an instant sensation. Amid all the hubbub, one solitary figure stood unimpressed in his ivory tower, nose held high in contemptuous dismissal, disappointing reporters with comments that this was merely a fad. All that data came roaring in off the disk and went straight on to the screen with barely a whisper of processing from the computer. The player's actions did little more than select animation sequences from the disk. Not much processing there.
Experienced programmers know that data can often be substituted for process.
Many algorithms can be replaced by tables of data. This is a common trick for expending RAM to speed up processing. Because of this, many programmers see process and data as interchangeable. This misconception arises from applying low-level considerations to the higher levels of software design. A more serious challenge comes from the evolution of personal computing technology.