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I'm the forgotten child. Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most. Even my older brother refused to work with me. We were forced to play together, but he was always rough and indifferent. Maybe because he was 23 years older than me. So I became the same.

I started out smart and wanted, but in the end, even my father ignored me. I was supposed to be the future, but my father cast me aside when my half-brother came into the world. My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born. I was worthless to him after that.

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true! Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

I have two main friends. Although, one makes me more hopeful than the other. We have a long history and they've always been by my side. They even confronted my father when he wanted to cut me loose early.

I grew up with the ambition to be the best, Unfortunately, I ended up only having two main enemies. However, we still work together from time to time. The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive. This is especially true when I beat them, as I know that their power is nothing.

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot. I just wish I could have won the approval of my father and his friends.

Who or what am I?

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  • $\begingroup$ Is the added text in the last edit part of the question? It isn't mentioned in the edit history. $\endgroup$
    – Matthew Wells
    Feb 9, 2020 at 8:11
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    $\begingroup$ rot13(V'z abg dhvgr fher. Ohg V whfg jnag n uvag. Vf guvf sebz n zbivr? Be Vf vg fbzr Naqebvq be Ebobg? N fyvtug uvag jbhyq znxr vg rira zber vagrerfgvat 😉) $\endgroup$
    – S K
    Feb 9, 2020 at 10:13
  • $\begingroup$ @Matthew Wells I realized that it could mean something else, so I added it to make sure it wasn't wrong $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 9, 2020 at 20:12
  • $\begingroup$ I thought this might be something along the lines of r13(na n/i sbezng jne (zvav-qvfp if pq be UQ QIQ if Oyh-En rgp.)) but I can't match the timelines... $\endgroup$
    – Johnson
    Feb 10, 2020 at 0:32
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    $\begingroup$ Is the unique capitalization of the "O" intentional/a clue or a typo? "I'm the forgotten child Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most." $\endgroup$
    – TCooper
    Feb 26, 2020 at 23:23

4 Answers 4

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New Answer

I think you are

A Nintendo Wii

Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most.

The release of the Wii U caused people to seek the latest and greatest

Even my older brother refused to work with me

NES emulators on the Wii store can be rough and not work well

Maybe because he was 23 years older than me

NES was released about 23 years before the Wii

I started out smart and wanted, but in the end, even my father ignored me. I was supposed to be the future, but my father cast me aside when my half-brother came into the world

The Wii Remote was cool and innovative, but didn't go anywhere in particular, and wasn't used by the Wii U

My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born. I was worthless to him after that.

??? Can't think of anything important from 2008 for the Wii

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true!

The Wii and Wii U look kinda similar

Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

The Wii has a 729 MHz processor, whereas the NES had a 1.79 MHz processor

I have two main friends. Although, one makes me more hopeful than the other. We have a long history and they've always been by my side. They even confronted my father when he wanted to cut me loose early.

I think this is a reference to characters, possibly Mario and Link who appear in every console

I ended up only having two main enemies. However, we still work together from time to time

Playstation and Xbox are competitors, but there are cross platform games

The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive. This is especially true when I beat them, as I know that their power is nothing.

Still not sure about this one, as the 360 and PS3 both have greater processing power than the Wii...

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot. I just wish I could have won the approval of my father and his friends.

The last Wii game was released in November 2019, and there will be no further support for it soon-ish

Original (Wrong) Answer

I think you are

Windows 7 or Windows Vista OS. Not sure which, because some of the clues could go either way.

Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most.

This could be the release of Win 8 a few years after Win 7 came out, causing people to upgrade. It could also be the upgrade from Vista to 7

Even my older brother refused to work with me

Win 7 and 1 would have compatibility issues

Maybe because he was 23 years older than me

Windows 7 was released roughly 23-24 years after the original Windows OS

I started out smart and wanted, but in the end, even my father ignored me. I was supposed to be the future, but my father cast me aside when my half-brother came into the world

Gates didn't like these versions of the OS, and kept developing.

My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born. I was worthless to him after that.

Competition between Windows and Apple? Also, two years is about the time difference between Vista and 7

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true!

Vista and 7 have similar UIs

Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

Could be the power gap between 7 and either Vista or 8

I have two main friends. Although, one makes me more hopeful than the other. We have a long history and they've always been by my side. They even confronted my father when he wanted to cut me loose early.

Gooooooooogle? And some other software perhaps?

I ended up only having two main enemies. However, we still work together from time to time

Mac OS and Linux perhaps?

The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive. This is especially true when I beat them, as I know that their power is nothing.

Not sure about this one, honestly these lines make it sound more like a hardware thing than software

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot. I just wish I could have won the approval of my father and his friends.

Windows 7 support ended on January 14th, but that was a while ago.

In conclusion

I think that this is Windows 7 OS. However, some clues make me think it could be a model of computer or a generation of gaming console.

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  • $\begingroup$ Wow! This is a great answer! Unfortunately, It's not Windows. One part of your guess points you in the right direction though :) $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 12, 2020 at 1:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Qiangong2 Would I be getting closer by talking about ROT13(Vagrearg Rkcybere naq Rqtr?) Or is it not Windows related at all? $\endgroup$
    – David Robie
    Feb 12, 2020 at 17:55
  • $\begingroup$ No, not that. rot13(Jvaqbjf pna or gvrq gb vg, ohg vg unf abguvat gb qb jvgu Jvaqbjf) $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 12, 2020 at 19:13
  • $\begingroup$ Unfortunately, the second guess is wrong too. You actually got colder. rot13(gur rneyl gjb-gubhfnaqf bhtug gb uryc) $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 13, 2020 at 17:25
  • $\begingroup$ @Qiangong2 Nah, beats me! $\endgroup$
    – David Robie
    Feb 13, 2020 at 18:04
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Everyone had great guesses! Here's the answer though!

Who or what am I?

An Itanium CPU aka ia64

Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most.

X86_64

Even my older brother refused to work with me...Maybe because he was 23 years older than me

The first x86 CPU was technically released in 1978, 23 years before the ia64 in 2001

We were forced to play together, but he was always rough and indifferent...So I became the same.

x86 emulation was notoriously terrible on ia64. Eventually, Intel just gave up on it.

I started out smart and wanted, but in the end, even my father ignored me. I was supposed to be the future, but my father cast me aside when my half-brother came into the world.

There was a lot of hype around Itanium since they were the first 64 bit CPUs available. Sadly, due to a lot of stumbles around 32 bit emulation and AMD releasing AMD64, Intel gave up on consumer level ia64 chips and created the half brother: X86_64

My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born. I was worthless to him after that.

X86_64 was announced in 2003 and Itanium interest has dwindled ever since

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true!

Completely different architectures

Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

32 bit vs 64 bit.

I have two main friends. Although, one makes me more hopeful than the other. We have a long history and they've always been by my side.

Fujitsu and HP

They even confronted my father when he wanted to cut me loose early.

Intel wanted to give up on ia64 around 2009, but HP brought a lawsuit against them to keep them making ia64 chips

I grew up with the ambition to be the best, Unfortunately, I ended up only having two main enemies. However, we still work together from time to time. The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive. This is especially true when I beat them, as I know that their power is nothing.

SPARC and IBM POWER architectures

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot.

Itanium's support will end sometime before 2030

This is what happens when a tech nerd creates a story riddle :D Thanks to everyone who tried to figure it out!

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You are

Apple iPod

Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most.

Release of iPod Mini in 2003 was one of the most popular electronic product at that time.

Maybe because he was 23 years older than me.

This is referring to the Sony Walkman, released in 1979, 23 years before iPod. or the first digital audio player IXI which is 23 years older.

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true! Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

iPod is bigger than iPod Mini in dimensions. iPod is more powerful in features than iPod mini.

I have two main friends. Although, one makes me more hopeful than the other. We have a long history and they've always been by my side. They even confronted my father when he wanted to cut me loose early.

iPad and iPhone. They work together when the others did not have the features.

I grew up with the ambition to be the best, Unfortunately, I ended up only having two main enemies. However, we still work together from time to time. The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive. This is especially true when I beat them, as I know that their power is nothing.

iPod features are now available in both of them. iPod requires charging to be active. iPod beats both iPad and iPhone in charging and playback time.

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot. I just wish I could have won the approval of my father and his friends.

https://www.wired.com/story/goodbye-ipod-and-thanks-for-all-the-tunes/ and iPod Touch is still in production. Preparing for the end maybe.

Wrong Answer

You are

AngularJS

Once my half brother came into the picture, I was swiftly forgotten by most.

React vs Vue vs Angular

I started out smart and wanted, but in the end, even my father ignored me.

Father of Angular

A large amount of people mistake me for my half-brother, but that is just not true! Most people look at me and think that I'm only twice as powerful as my older brother. Actually, I am exponentially more powerful than him.

ReactJS and AngularJS have some common features. AngularJS is more powerful than Vanilla JS.

My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born.

AngularJS was released on 20/10/2010 while ReactJS was released on 29/05/2013. Two years approx.

However, we still work together from time to time.

It is possible to combine Angular-Vue-React with some external tools like this: https://github.com/single-spa/single-spa

Even though I know my life is coming to an end, It has been a good run. I've made it far and done a lot. I just wish I could have won the approval of my father and his friends.

Killed By Google

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  • $\begingroup$ How about the 23 year older brother reference? $\endgroup$
    – Ébe Isaac
    Feb 29, 2020 at 5:02
  • $\begingroup$ @ÉbeIsaac I feel that he miscalculated it. It was an edit after the initial question. Could be. ECMAScript which is core of JS is 23 years old. Otherwise this fits perfectly. If not, let's hear it from him. $\endgroup$
    – m4n0
    Feb 29, 2020 at 11:06
  • $\begingroup$ @ManojKumar The 23 years old part is vital to the riddle :D Good guess, but it seems like this answer only applies to the first half of the story. Remember: "The electricity I feel with them makes me feel alive" $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 29, 2020 at 20:16
  • $\begingroup$ @Qiangong2 Am I close? $\endgroup$
    – m4n0
    Feb 29, 2020 at 21:35
  • $\begingroup$ @ManojKumar Sorry, not at all $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Feb 29, 2020 at 22:31
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Based on the clues my guess is:

  • The forgotten child: Intel Pentium D, released in 2005
  • The half-brother: Intel Core series, first released in 2006
  • The older brother: Intel 80x86, first released in 1982
  • Two main enemies: AMD and Nvidia

The above confirms the following points:

  • The inception of the half-brother caused the child to be forgotten
  • The older brother and the forgotten child were forced to play (operate) with each other
  • The older brother is rough and indifferent and is 23 years older than the forgotten child
  • The forgotten child is exponentially more powerful than the older brother
  • Two main enemies who still work together from time to time.

As for the points

  • My father got jealous of a friend and had him two years after I was born. I was worthless to him after that.

This could refer to the rivalry between Intel and AMD. Athlon 64 X2 was released by AMD in 2007.

  • Two main friends with a long history; one more hopeful than the other.

Peripherals or instruction set exclusive to Pentium, maybe?

  • My life is coming to an end

Pentium D is the last of the Pentium series. The market has moved to Intel Core

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  • $\begingroup$ WOW. An amazing answer and you are extremely close too! I'll put up the answer soon. However, you are by far the closest anyone has gotten! You can have the bounty though :) $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Mar 4, 2020 at 19:18
  • $\begingroup$ Answer is up if you're interested $\endgroup$
    – Qiangong2
    Mar 4, 2020 at 19:43
  • $\begingroup$ Thank you @Qiangong2! That was an interesting riddle looking forward to your next one ;) $\endgroup$
    – Ébe Isaac
    Mar 5, 2020 at 3:11

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