Reading Risks Digest this morning I came across a link to an article comparing a 1986 Mac Plus and a 2007 AMD Dual core. The question posed was how has the massive increase in computing power has changed the speed at which the most commonly performed tasks are performed.
“The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware industry…”– Henry Petroski
Of course, some of you might already have guessed the outcome, and some might not agree with the tests as presented, but the fact is that the tests actually look pretty fair when you consider what most office workers do with their PCs.
Anyway you can read the article for yourself here on hubpages
Its a sad fact that as computers get more powerful they do not get faster.
I for one hate the “Yes, I know its slow but we will do it like this and when we come to market computers will be 2x faster” attitude that I have heard a number of people take, even in lectures at UWA *ahem*