Intel: Software needs to heed Moore's Law

TalkBack 22 of 36:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

And this is news, or a law?! Sounds more like forgotten common sense.

Thanks to the 'advances' of storage capacities, operating system and software designers felt they could write less efficient or bulkier code.

It seemed obvious from day 1 that would mean slower performance. And by day 1 I mean the mid-1980s as Windows started "evolving" (more like bloating into Fat Albert) whereas other platforms (such as the Commodore Amiga) retained small footprints and boasted more use of efficient languages such as Assembly language with tightly written code.

After all, in the days of punched cards, nobody wanted to handle any more of them than possible...

And "things are better on the server side" solely because they use SCSI architecture and SMP (multiple processors). Whatever happened to the idea of using unused CPU cycles on workstation nodes?

The same can be said for oil, and why nobody's shifting away from it as fast as possible. The technologies DO exist.

Mind you, at the time when I pointed out these foibles to people, I was laughed at - much for the same reason; why not use all the extra memory and hard drive space? Nobody grasped the idea that tighter code usually means better performance and less chance of faulty/failing code. It's not a magical new thought. It's common sense that goes back long before computers were thought of: Using resources as wisely as possible and not caving to gluttony at every opportunity.

Remember the mindset of the majority at the time. And the sales pitch of those selling the dominant platforms.

Borkar can say what he wants. Whether the world follows him is another. And why does the article make him sound like a deity anyway?

Posted by: HypnoToad72   Posted on: 05/25/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Email Security and Archiving - Clearer in the Cloud Google The time is NOW for businesses and organizations of all sizes to implement ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now
• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now