It is interesting to read in your Science and Technology Section about military use of consumer technology (“War Games,” December 12, 2009). In particular, you claim that “consumer products and video-gaming technology are boosting the performance and reducing the price of military equipment.” This smacks of the old chicken and egg problem, I am afraid. I will never forget an occasion in the mid-1980s when I walked into the Media Lab at MIT to see a large number of computer screens showing low-flying aircraft, crawling tanks, and huddling soldiers. The images were so true-to-life that I was riveted in front of the screens for quite some time. As it turned out, the Lab had just received some old and discarded gaming equipment from one of the military organizations that funded MIT’s research. Several research assistants were in the process of clearing the computers’ hard disks. At the time, consumer products of this ilk were ridiculous by comparison. So much for military use of consumer technology.