Chickens and eggs

First, a quick note DirectStream Memory Player beta units have shipped and you can begin reading what they find on our forums starting later this week. Limited numbers of finished production units begin shipping in December. This means that this morning, November 1, we are taking preorders on a first come, first served basis, in the United States. You can go here to place your preorder. Outside the US, please get in touch with your dealer, or our staff here, should you need assistance. Today's post You can't have a chicken without and egg, and you can't have an egg without a chicken—so which came first? It's an age old riddle, one first recorded in 320 BC by Aristotle, but likely's been asked for as long as people have been asking. The question isn't answerable because the logic is circular. Circular logic questions are like magic tricks presenting impossible situations as fact: ladies being cut in two, people floating in the air. You can't reason out the answer of how the magician did something, without first understanding he didn't. It was, of course, a trick. The lady wasn't cut in half, and people don't float without the aid of invisible wires. When we ask ourselves which is more important, the source or the output, we have created another circular logic question. It's fun to ponder because it cannot be answered. Like the magic we understand to be a trick, the source vs. output answer is equally obvious. It all matters. The real question comes down to one of efficiency, and that is something we'll tackle tomorrow.