[mdlug] Parallella: A Supercomputer For Everyone by Adapteva — Kickstarter

[Aaron Kulkis]

Adam Tauno Williams wrote:
> Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Adam Tauno Williams
>> <awilliam at whitemice.org> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 2012-10-11 at 16:23 -0400, Michael Mol wrote:
>> [snip]
>>>> Yes, a programmer with the mindset of a 1980s assembly coder could
>>>> achieve absolutely amazing performance on a modern system,
>>> He could.  But I really, seriously, do not believe he could create a
>>> compelling application.  He'd have to write *tons* of code to work in
>> a
>>> modern environment.
>>>> All that 'bloat' is really a set of tools designed to allow
>>> Assuming it really is "bloat" and not functionality I really want.
>> If
>>> someone is using a computer the same way for the same purpose they
>> did
>>> in 1984 - then yes, it is all bloat.
>
>> Incidentally, you're making my point.
>
>
> Good, because I agree with you.  I think we are in the same page from slightly different angles.
>
> My issue is that comparing the performance difference perceived between a 1980s platform and its applications and a 20xx platform and its applications is very apples-and-oranges.  There are many significant both technological and philosophical differences.
>
> I also don't believe there is a performance problem;  I'm very satisfied with the performance of the devices and applications I use.  In my experience performance, on the same hardware, has noticeably *improved* in the last several years.  LibreOffice, for one example, churns through my data an order of magnitude faster than it did a couple of years ago.  The big Java app I use all day (DbVisualizer) has gotten perceptibly faster with every release.  The start up delay I used to see with .NET apps like Monodevelop and F-Spot is simply gone.
>
>



How much memory was in your system back then, and how much now?