Comment Re:Poor programmer? (Score 2) 279
You've written quite a bit here about optimization. I certainly won't dispute that there's room for improvement, but I think you're missing something crucial. Minecraft has, and perhaps never will be, a game that relies on graphics, high-performance architecture, or even a reasonable FPS. If architecture bothers you that much, there's no shortage of games out there built on very robust engines such as the UDK. Instead, Notch has wisely chosen to focus on doing his best to refine the actual gameplay. The end result is a literally endless, randomly generated world that for some reason people are willing to pay good money to play in.
As for his choice of rendering tech, it's noteworthy to point out OpenGL 1.1 is one of the few graphics choices left that will practically run on anything calling itself a GPU.