Yes, there are some advantages to combining die within a package, but there are lots of downsides too. The real issue is that it doesn't solve any of the problems PCs are facing. The drivers might be a little smaller, but they are still orders of magnitude bigger and slower than staying on chip. How fast does level 1 cache run? At the processor clock speed in all cases I've seen. Level 2 is a bit slower and I think the main difference between level 2 and level 3 is not the speed, but the complexity of the management (correct me if I am wrong). So even level 3 cache runs at half the speed of the CPU or at minimum over a GHz. Going off the die you won't get that sort of speed and you still have the same SI issues of boards (like ground bounce) even if they aren't as pronounced.
TI produced a version of their cell phone ARM chip which has the memory chip soldered directly on top. That would be very close to a multichip module. I don't know how popular it ended up being. They used it on the BeagleBoard but I think for most apps and assembly houses this is just *too* fancy.
Multichip modules just plain cost too much for most uses.
Do you know of anyone currently working to combine the CPU and main memory? There are numerous reasons why this is a bad idea, even if they are still separate chips. But that may change as requirements change. Who knows? In the portable market there does seem to be a fat sweet spot in the center of memory sizes where you could get by with a single memory size. We may see a multichip module for that some day... but not until it is actually solving some problem you can't get around using separate packages.
Yeah, it *is* magic in a way. They have spent an awful lot of money over the years optimizing the whole DRAM thing. When I studied semiconductor physics many years ago in school I was told that the cutting edge of this stuff was just measurements and the theory was always lagging behind. The lab tries a bunch of stuff to measure the results of varying the parameters and the factory gets to fine tune it. With each new process generation they get to start again.
That was a long time ago and it was more about the fact that PC makers didn't know how to design high speed PCBs. So Intel wrapped all that up in a module so the motherboard makers didn't have to think about it. Selling the CPU on its own board along with the cache didn't make the cache run faster, it just made it work! After all, it was still the exact same circuit, it was just pre-fabbed.
The problem came back when the SDRAM got faster at higher clock speeds. I remember all the theories of how this brand of memory module was crap and that one was golden and how this motherboard could only take RAM in two of the sockets before it went wonkey, blah, blah, blah... all of it was caused by the motherboard makers not knowing how to design high speed traces on a PCB. So the combos of MB and DRAM modules was a hit or miss proposition.
I don't recall which generation of DRAM it was, but eventually they moved to point to point signals so there wouldn't be any more multi-driver busses which are very hard to design at 800 MHz.
I'm not saying you *can't* combine SDRAM and an x86 CPU. This may have been done by someone at some point. I'm saying it isn't practical for mainstream uses. It won't show up at Best Buy in the next five years. But who knows beyond that? I think the PC market is headed for a dramatic change within the next five years. Handhelds are taking computing in a very new direction and the momentum is reaching the critical point.
I don't know what that means.
But it is *both* as well as the processing technology mismatch. The trifecta!
I'm not sure what this means.
What?? We left 640 kB behind before we left MS-DOS behind!!! The Internet is the biggest commercial opportunity since the baby boom!
You can't find what today?
That is the point. No one knows for sure or they would already be there. As they push on the technology they make changes like DNA evolving. Some survive some pass on. But with each generation we get adaptation. When there is more severe pressure, there is greater change. The change in technology provides fertile ground for mutations and the change in computing happens faster giving use things we didn't know we wanted. But we do want and we will change what we buy.
I just want a big screen and a keyboard... or so I think. I've been thinking for the last few years a big flat TV would do nicely as my screen and I can have a keyboard with me even more easily than my 17" laptop. So why wouldn't a tablet with say a 128 GB flash drive make my day? Right now the only limitation is the lack of support for Android by the FPGA software vendors. I can't imagine that isn't going to change soon.
Ok, I'm also a curmudgeon.
Ask around, very few here like anything after XP.
Silverlight was one of the first things I turned off! What does it do that you or I need?
Uh, what?
Ok, what software do you need? It will be available on tablets running either Android or who knows, MS may be able to throw their 600 pound gorilla Windows into the tablet market. I mean, if the hardware keeps pumping up and the market pressures squeeze Windows down to something more like 2000 or XP in a couple more years it won't be the worst match ever.
Some years ago when the fortunes of Apple was less certain I predicted that my friend who worked at a newspaper would be switching to a PC because Apple would be going under. Then they came out with I guess the iPod... wow! Then the iPhone, more wow! So my predictions of their demise was a bit premature... The point though is that the newspaper was full of Macs because the software was so much better for their needs than anything on the PC. Newspapers, etc will be running desktops for some time because they need the BIG screens. But the software gap has closed. So the PC is suitable for graphic arts now. Once they learn that they don't need the hunk of iron to power their 26" screens anymore, they will be changing. In fact, they may "get it" before the rest of us.
The drivers are not a big issue - they are /much/ smaller and lower power than you need for separate packages. With die-on-die stacking, you need to drive your inter-chip buses over a length of perhaps 2 mm, compared to at least 20 cm on a motherboard. That's a factor of 100 difference. The inter-chip "buses" are far shorter than on-die buses. And as I explained above, there are many other factors making the buses far faster for die-on-die as compared to motherboard buses.
The biggest issue with die-on-die stacking is getting the power into the part, and getting the heat out. Modern fast memory modules come with heat sinks and even fans - even without their driver circuits they still need a lot of power.
L1 cache is often slower than the processor clock, but wider than the cpu (especially for instruction cache). As always, details vary for different architectures.
You are wrong. L3 runs at slower clock speeds and larger latencies than L2 - these are hierarchical. Depending on the architecture, L3 bandwidth might well be similar to L2 by using wider buses, but memory always has a tradeoff between speed, power-consumption and area. The reason you have different cache levels is to have different points in that trade-off curve.
Additionally, different cache levels will have different types of associativity, and different ways of dealing with inter-cache coherence and multiple processors. The details here vary between architectures.
L3 cache typically runs at far less than half the CPU clock on fast processors.
It is true that you will not get quite the same speeds if you go off-die, and you will see some SI issues (your lines no longer lie across power-planes, for example). But the whole point is that you get far faster buses, for much lower power, than if the memory was on the other side of the motherboard. /That/ is the comparison you need to make, not the comparison to on-die memory.
Note that many processors have had off-die cache over the years - sometimes as separate chips, sometimes as separate dies within the same package.
Chip-on-chip packaging is a definite hit for systems that need to be small (that's the main reason for this package, rather than speed). Any assembly house that is happy with these fine-pitched BGA's should be able to handle chip-on-chip. But you are right that it is an extra cost.
Die-on-die stacking inside packages is in common use inside memory chips
- both dynamic ram and flash chips use it. But in the great majority of cases so far, these are symmetrical - you have multiple identical dies.
The challenge for cpu manufactures is to have different types of die in the same package, and especially for such high-power dies.
In big systems, there will always be off-package memory as well of course.
We'll see. The problem I see now is connectivity. FireWire is ebbing out. Perhaps USB3.0 will be the bus of choice, or Thunderbolt.
To an extent. I found it unusual to need more than realmode levels of memory prior to Windows.
I must respectfully disagree. 90% of of it is noncommercial for one. Compared to the PC Revolution, it's just not one.
It's Facebook, Twitter and Google plus online retail.
I dunno - some friends of mine are doing quite well in that general arena ( not in Web stuff, and I don't want to say who they are ) but I just couldn't see doing it.
A tablet I want to buy.
I know what I want to do with one. It's not there today. And the audience for mobile devices doesn't appear to me to want to do any heavy lifting with them.
You can, for example, do recording with an iPad, but the "dock" for it is $3000. I don't think I can write 'C' programs to do signals processing with one. I've yet to see a Tcl interpreter for one.
There is Python at least.
We do that now with the netbook.
We'll see. I am not sure how much of Linux is missing from Android; other than that it shouldn't be too bad. You will need a big ole screen, though.
I've seen that and I don't see the problem. You can still buy XP if you don't have it.
Netflix. When I was working remote, that's how I consumed Netflix.
I/O.
Maybe.
that is true. I don't believe we'll see that though.
Right.
Except that Adobe threw a cow in the Photoshop well...
Completely bizarre and ridiculous. MS said it was Samsung's problem (even after 25 mins spent explaining what was on the screen), Samsung said it was MS (correctly IMHSHO) Only possible solution was to get a replacement disk from Samsung - for the same price as the WinXP! Why MS was insisting that I have a Samsung-specific disk to install on a Samsung computer is beyond me.
Linux installation was, of course, trivial and fast, and the machine became much more responsive too!
The solutions you were proposing have been studied in considerable detail by many people since the 1970s. And those people were highly motivated, highly intelligent, and not constrained by pre-existing commercial considerations. In some cases there are good theoretical reasons why they were unlikely to be successful.
Those that do not understand history are condemned to repeat it.
If you want to go off down a blind alley, fine. I prefer to go down alleys that are poorly explored.
Over here most clubs have a fixed-price-to-solo scheme including membership and up to 100 flights for around $1000.
That cost is not too dissimilar to the cost of learning to drive a car.
That's very true. Gliding is a social activity: you can't just turn up and fly, everybody helps everybody get airborne.
Good luck with the replacement. As far as I can tell the key points are to get implants that have a proven long-term success rate (not easy since manufacturers frequently introduce new types with minimal testing), and a surgeon that that specialises in this operation (i.e. isn't increasing their CV/resume)
I'm trying to understand what you are saying. You wrote a bunch of general stuff. Any application to the conversation?
There is the fallacy to your argument. The fact that some 30 or more years ago, things were tried using existing technology and A was found to be a better path than B. That is not the same as saying path B is a "blind alley".
Path A has been followed and has shown great promise, but that path is coming to an end of easy travel. Technology has changed and now Path B is starting to look better all the time.
That's a very different system level problem. It has nothing to do with the actual computing.
Ok, if you don't want to use Windows, then don't. But the market is for GUI OS and apps. That is what drives processor design.
You can disagree all you want. But the Internet is big business, has created huge *new* markets and has changed the way nearly *all* businesses operate. It is irrelevant if it is used for other purposes and the PC revolution BI (before Internet) was nothing compared to what it is with the Internet. I think it will prove to be bigger than the telephone or the TV in terms of impacting our lives. In fact, it is well on the way to replacing both. As evidence, I submit that the states are all clamoring for a new Federal law allowing them to tax Internet sales and making vendors collect the state tax even if they are only in other states. Clearly they feel the Internet has become a major commercial presence and this is only the retail impact. When was the last time you got a data sheet delivered to you by a salesman?
I don't know what you mean. What is "it" in this context?
I'm the same way, I need a laptop. But I use my girlfriend's tablet from time to time because it is there when my laptop isn't and it comes on instantly while my laptop takes a couple of minutes to fire up and shut down.
That is your personal preference, not the real market.
Yeah, a netbook is just a tablet with a built in keyboard and screen, both nearly unusable. I'd be willing to bet that netbooks were a flash in the pan, popular at first but sales either flatlining or falling off.
Any flat screen TV will be much better than my laptop or desktop.
I'm very resistant to paying Microsoft any more money than I have to. I may get a new laptop soon. One thing holding me back is that I have to pay Bill Gates another $50 for the latest OS I really don't want.
You can't use Netflix without Silverlight? wow.
I can't see that as important. How does I/O impact PCs significantly? Where is the bottleneck?
What do you think Windows 8 is about? Getting the OS to look like tablets and users used to the look and feel they will get on tablets when MS starts pushing Windows into that market.
How can MS *not* follow this route? They put out paired down versions of Windows for netbooks. They will continue to improve and streamline the product until they can provide a decent version of Windows for tablets and then it will be a footrace with Android.
But it remains as the most significant issue with things like handhelds and tablets.
No, I went in for Windows just like everybody else... I mean that the real justification for all that power and memory was the GUI.
I was using DOS machines for Real Work(tM) first, then as a home computing appliance.
I just don't see that. outside of the models more or less spread by Amazon, nothing's changed. And that is a dynamic Sears Roebuck Catalog enabled by credit card payment and shipped by a FedEx style shipper rather than by rail.
Enterprise apps are still trench warfare, when they work at all.
It *has* replaced the telephone, but with an almost identical thing. Those who say it can replace TV are rather missing the point.
Content development has converged around cable. There are still two planes of content - DOCSIS and IP. There's still over the air TV, but is rather limited.
There's a little cross pollination - the show "Children's Hospital" transitioned from purely online to cable on Cartoon Network, but Rob Cordry was on a cable show before.
Earlier this year.
The internet.
Dunno about that - the lappie we use is up in less than a minute. It's not stored in a cold-down state - it's suspended.
A market is nothing more than an aggregation of individual preferences. I would say that a preference for tablets indicates that the ... preferr-er does very little with the thing.
This being said, a tablet makes a fine touchscreen remote for real computers, but that's got problems as well.
I expect that then we'll go without.
This has its challenges as well.
Understood.
Right. It's kind of disgusting.
What is your printer connected to? what on a tablet does data collection
- whether SCADA, audio, video? Can you do graphics on a tablet? Basic signals processing? FPGA development?
Wifi isn't all that good for this - it's fine for lowerish bandwidth file dragging but you can't do real work with it.
They don't think of it that way. They think in terms of "what do we have to do to unhorse Apple."
But they've shown again and again that they cannot get out of their own way. Anything that runs Windows has to support third party peripherals, so they can't nail down things in the same way Apple has.
I can't say I understand. How does a desktop or notebook have any better connectivity? Firewire is easy to add to any tablet or even a phone. They don't include it because it is not of interest to tablet or phone users. Ethernet is done over Wifi. So what is missing?
I think you are making a rather arbitrary distinction with no value. First, I have any number of apps that require memory far beyond 640 kB. Anything manipulating images which goes in spades for video. Most of my technical programs can't run in 640 kB. Even my editor is using 9 MB of memory at the moment. I often open files in it that are MBs large.
Sure, needing 4 GB of memory is because of the OS, but your implied usability of DOS is simply absurd. DOS could be used in the early days because no one dreamed of what we would be able to do.
I can only think you are blind. My purchasing is totally different now. I price shop easily and mostly buy online. Before the Internet it required trips to the local stores just to see what they had and what it cost. I used to get a 10 lb. (4.5 kg) Computer Shopper to try to find bargains. Shopping online has opened up many modes of purchasing that just didn't exist before. That is only the retail side. You seem to think the Sears catalog is the same as online purchasing. The states were never worried about the loss of revenue from Sears, lol!
Businesses conduct business over the Internet that would have been
*much* more expensive and impractical with dedicated services. My girlfriend works for one of the medical labs. All of their computers connect by VPN to order and report lab results over the Internet. Otherwise they would need direct phone lines and it would not be nearly as functional or practical.
I can't believe you don't see how the Internet is transforming the entire world! This will be bigger than the phone or TV in my opinion.
Yes, and cable TV will end up the loser with cable companies being Internet providers. But that is a ways off. TV is just so popular that cable TV will be with us for some time yet.
Ok, I see I'm talking to a bigger luddite. What were they selling, buggy whips?
That's still not clear.
Assuming the computer is not in it's bag... If it's not I have to remove it, remove the power pack, plug it in, open the lid and in a few seconds it prompts me for a password, a few more seconds (well a large few) it gives me the UI screen and starts connecting to the Wifi, then a few more seconds and the email program figures out it is connected... all in all it is well over a minute before it is ready for me to use. You just have to pick up the tablet then push a button and swipe a finger across the screen... you're in. HUGE difference.
You don't get it. That is the point. The tablets do what most people want. Therefore they will become the dominant form of computing...
Lol!
You'll go without eating???
What are you talking about?
I don't know how I have managed to live without Netflix. Oh, that's right, I'm a Luddite!
I don't have any trouble with any of these... what are you talking about?
Yes, I am totally unable to work...
Uh, that is a bit silly. Of course they consider competition, but they need a plan based on what they expect will woo the user.
That is not obvious. Why does a tablet have to support an external SCSI drive? You will never be able to connect it.
Windows can run on a tablet just fine once the trim it down to the slower processors and (slightly) smaller memory.
The problems with Apple "nailing" down the units are just that, problems. A friend has an iPhone and he borrowed my netbook so he could do backups. His laptop had problems with iTunes and Apple wouldn't support it. With a tablet he would be able to get third party products to make it work. I try not to make proclamations, but I'm pretty sure I will never buy an Apple computing device. I don't like their closed approach.
Is it? I've only see the Ainol Novo 9 with Firewire built in. I suppose that depends on what you mean by "added to".
Data collection I/O. Maybe that will evolve to over Wifi, but I have yet to see that. Maybe I should do that; I have though t about it. But every time I look at it, it costs too much unless you get into large retail establishments. And you can stand up a desktop to do it, and pull files over Wifi.
We've gained video, audio and things like Photoshop. If you include the Commodore computers from that time frame, we really haven't gained that, either.
Compared to what was gained by pre-Windows PCs, that's a rather short list. And those were not unique; just cheaper.
Pre-Windows PCs made a measurable impact on the economy. Post and peri-Windows, not so much. 'Course we use Linux for what we used DOS for before.
Yeah - it's back to the Sears Roebuck catalog model. C'mon - this is not a difficult concept.
So make that a disc instead of a printed catalog. Same thing. And make it to where you could download a .iso of the disk...
Shopping online has opened up many modes of purchasing that
That's because Sears charged all the applicable taxes. If you'll recall, it was considered *better* when you did not have to wait the six weeks for a simple retail purchase, and retail began to consume much more real estate.
As to "multiple trips", call ahead. That's what I did and still do. This only fails because the minions of retail establishment have lousy communications skills.
No, they would not have. I don't think you've thought this through. For example, WalMart has an online system that offers "in store pickup." You basically get back some of the cost of inventory risk.
The advantages of stuff over the Internet is much more subtle. The vast majority of say, Amazon is the giant flea market of a million booths.
No doubt. But one for the first things I did for my employer in 1994 was to help us use a T1 line for the same purpose.
Emphasis "will be". It's been five years out for fifteen years now :)
I expect so; yes. The hot thing now is long-form stuff like Mad Men or Justified. that's not something that can exist in an an Internet-only model. The capitalization doesn't work.
Sensors and actuators. The people I work with build real machines that do real work.
Wow, mine does none of that. You open the lid, it brings up the login and you're done in less than a minute.
My point is that they don't do anything - beyond post captioned cat videos. They're Barbie fashion accessories.
We still use brick and mortar for buying food.
you have to put a large screen TV on something. if it's more than six feet away, you lose any advantage from it being a large screen.
On a *tablet* you do those? No, you have to at least have a laptop.
I think you give them much more credit than is deserved...
Right.
One can hope. For now, I run VMs of XP and other M$ OS offerings, hosted by Win7.
Yep.
I quite agree. So that leaves us with the forces opposing the death of the desktop...
I'm saying the makers could include it easily if there was a demand. Firewire is a specialty interface for high end cameras. I don't think there is much need for it now that USB 3.0 is standard on new machines.
You mean USB? What data are you collecting? Do you have to keep limiting your replies to bits and pieces rather than explaining yourself? Exactly what needed connectivity is missing from tablets and phones?
Ok, you seem to think that dynamic web pages findable by search engines are no improvement over waiting literally weeks for catalogs to be mailed out *if* you know about the company to request them from. One of the very first impacts of the Internet was the elimination of printed data sheets by PDF files. I remember when web sites started making them available, semiconductor companies wanted you to register so they could retain the info they got when you called to ask for a data book. Now they use incentives to get you to register.
You refuse to accept that the time factor makes a *huge* difference. I can't tell you how many times I heard "you will have it in 10 to 14 days" or "two to three weeks" or even longer. That's mail order. Internet is a very different world with rapid info, online help chat and interactive information.
The sales tax was charged only if they operated in your state. Many mail order businesses were not in state. Now the Internet is *huge* and the states are feeling the pinch in their wallet. Mail order could never do that.
You aren't even listening to what I am saying. Actually the In Store Pickup is strictly an Internet thing. I don't remember anyone doing that before you could order on the Internet.. actually that's not correct. Many years ago Sears had "catalog" stores in towns where they didn't have a regular store. You ordered from the catalog and they delivered to the store, two to three weeks later! The Internet turned this into two to three days if not in stock!
Which would be impractical for many applications which would require such high speed lines for every office in the system at a cost of many thousands if not millions per year. I know, I've priced a T1 line. That line would then be special purpose not allowing them to access any other resource.
Lol, it is here now if you just open your eyes. How long did it take for the phone or the auto to be universal and pervasive? Some 50 years or more I think. The Internet is not even 20 yet and has already transformed us all.
Can't say, I haven't worried about most TV for some time now. But there is no reason why cable TV needs to be the distribution method of TV. Higher speed Internet suffices just fine. The only question is what economic model to use and that can be the same as used for cable.
So why couldn't you get a data sheet off their web site? I am sure the sales person wanted to meet you, but that is still no reason to require you to get a piece of paper rather than a PDF. The last time I asked for a data sheet on paper they sales person has to use his printer. I stopped asking after that.
You never have to plug it in? That's pretty good. Atomic power? Even so that is still more than an order of magnitude longer than a tablet. The tablet is also there when the laptop is not. Do you drag the laptop with you when you leave the office or house? Do you take it upstairs when you go to bed in order to read your novel in bed? Do you take it on the deck when you want to relax with a glass of iced tea and browse the web on a break?
The difference in size and convenience is very significant. The phones are still phones first and Internet devices second. But they top the list in terms of availability. I *always* have my phone with me as do many. By comparison, the laptop is an albatross in a bag with a shoulder strap.
That is silly and totally inaccurate. You clearly have not seen anyone actually using them. You won't be able to remain ignorant of them long. They are popping up everywhere. I am seeing about half as many tablets as laptops at Panera Bread these days and the numbers are growing fast.
Ah, so you won't go without.
What? My laptop in my lap is the smaller than the TV (I am planning to buy) on the wall. The TV has higher resolution.
Which of these can't you do on a tablet? What is your point? How does a tablet limit what you can do?
Audio, video, the like. I've said that multiple times... other stuff you'd need a PCI card for.
I have a small harddisk recorder that has ADAT Lightpipe spigots on it - you can record 16 tracks with it. I've produced and recorded several people's albums with it.
Then there's video - although that's less problematic because the main ones of those I've seen have SD cards, although I don't know how I'd do a combined live audio/video thing to where the video could fit on an SD card. But last time I tried that, it was with Hi-8. Striped SMPTE to the audio track on the cameras and synced it all back up in post.
Never mind all the industrial stuff you used to be able to do with PCs and is now much harder to do with COTS gear.
But you kept current catalogs in a bookshelf. That's the only real difference now - you don't have two tons of paper to pore over.
But that's why you had the local rep; you could order parts from them directly. They'd sometimes drive them over...
Right.
Agreed. That's what I was driving at.
No, the T1 went to a PBX and a Cisco router. Worked great. The far end of the PBX path was another big PBX across the continent. I'm sure it cost a couple thousand a month, but before that we were eating up a lot of long distance.
Probably something like that.
It might be; that remains to be seen. The people who own the content aren't that interested in "over the Internet" though.
Lol! That's pretty good. No, these guys were not set up for that. I was rather shocked myself. I dunno what the story really was; the project engineer just told me to meet with the guy.
Nukular. No, it plugs in, but that has nought to do with how long it takes to wake up.
Only when we're traveling.
Absolutely not. I still use paper books.
Sure. it's easy to use in that way, and there's a keyboard/"mouse".
I barely even use my phone. And it's a flip, not a smart phone.
Right. Most people don't do much, beyond shop and travel. Hey, if it works for you, then awesome, but it won't cut it for me.
Oh - I thought you'd meant something else, like using the TV as a monitor. I've thought about that but it doesn't work very well.
Yes, you've *said* it but still not explained it. Every tablet and phone I've ever seen has an earphone jack and mic input. I have no idea why you would need a PCI card for audio I/O.
What is lacking in the video outputs of tablets? If you need video input I'm sure there are any number of USB interfaced cameras. I can't imaging how PCI would provide any sort of interface for a camera that you can't do with USB...
That's what I mean by you aren't explaining yourself.
So? There are any number of highly specialized pieces of equipment that you can't connect to laptops, etc. They are a tiny market compared to the rest of computing. You are talking about niche markets. I'm talking about mainstream. I've already said that PCs won't go away, even desktops will remain for those who want the highest performance at any cost. The rest of us can get on without the cumbersomeness of full sized computers and laptops.
"All" the industrial stuff? What about it? Again, that is a tiny market compared to the consumer market. The server market is fairly big and they are starting to change over to ARM CPUs to conserve power. I don't know that what they are using is really much like a standard desktop and hasn't been so for a long time.
You dismiss the tremendous advantages of having data sheets on the computer. The original data sheet costs so little to publish and updates are nearly free. They are available immediately on the web and you don't need a book, much less a book case to hold them, you just plop them into your portable and they go where ever you go. I guess you are still doing work like you did over 20 years ago. I work very differently now and I design hardware. I am nearly portable with everything I need in my computer bag. I still need to get one of those USB logic analyzers/oscilloscopes and I won't be tied to anything bigger than my laptop. In five years it will be anything bigger than my tablet.
Yep, that was the day. Now they are happy to meet me and deliver stuff, but what do they have to deliver? I'm meeting a vendor tomorrow morning and it will be breakfast and talk... no data sheets, no paper of any kind I expect.
I don't know where you are going with this. Are you suggesting that the Internet doesn't make this horribly obsolete and absurd? With the Internet you plug in and you can be connected to everything and everybody in the world! Your T-1 couldn't do that!
I don't know what you are talking about. They don't *understand* the Internet, but they know they have to adapt to it or become the next Blockbuster. I spent a couple of hours the last couple days watching TV on the computer as this is the only way I can watch it. Turns out it works pretty durn well. Same commercial model so the economics are very similar.
Ok, then you either leave it plugged in at a fixed location or you have to spend time plugging in it each time you fire it up. That is the difference. Tablets and phones are designed to be portable rather than transportable. Big difference. Today's notebooks are just one step away from the Compaq "portable" of the late 80's.
That again is my point. The tablet and phone are there with you where ever you go. That makes a HUGE difference to most people.
The e-paper books are actually easier to read than books in my opinion. You don't have to hold them open to a page and I think they have better contrast. Plus, every book is a "large print" edition if I want it to be.
I find the laptop a bit awkward anywhere I haven't set up for it. It needs a sizable place to sit and I have to move to *it* rather than holding it where I want to be. My girlfriend lounges in a beanbag/wicker chair with her tablet which she could never do with her laptop.
Ok, you haven't found the need, but that doesn't mean the market isn't there, you are just an outlier.
Yes, I can see that. You don't do the things that most people do.
I *am* talking about using the TV as a monitor. It will be over my desk as a huge monitor and will swing out a bit so it can be seen from the living room furniture to watch TV.
I guess this conversation is about over. It is clear that you think the market is based on what you want from computers. It is very much *not* like what you want. Most people prefer to never touch a keyboard. They much prefer to use a touch screen because it is *there* when they need it where ever they are. If you think the market is going to continue to demand more and more desktop and laptop computers you will be surprised over the next few years and PCs are shoved aside by tablets and phones. Even Dell is pushing their tablets now.
Just wanted people to know that my Hive processor now has 8 stacks, somewhat different opcodes, a UART, and I implemented a single thread simulator for it in Excel.
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