I viewed it as like a scrap of archaeology, like picking up a tech catalog within the novel and reading one of the descriptions. It gives us an idea of the framework of technology the characters are immersed in. When you think about it, as much as the typical user knows these days about computer specs (amounts of RAM, processor speed, ports, etc.), we could probably pick up a catalog from ten years ago and have a pretty accurate notion/reminder of the user limitations of that time.
Plus, the way he gives the data here, followed by the side effects, echoes Wallace's detailed descriptions of drugs and their side effects that appear early in the footnotes. I think the parallel implies that teleputer (TP) use (and entertainment in general, by extension) is not so different from drug use (which is supported by how many use TV and the Internet today).
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