This summer I was sitting in a lecture at the Municipal Library of Prague. The speaker took out a 2 GB SD USB memory card, and declared 8,000 books could fit on it. More books, he claimed, than anyone could read in a life-time. A sculpture in the main entrance (the picture to the right) was made of 8,000 books to illustrate the difference in size. If you looked inside, two mirrors projected into infinity.
The observation by Moore on the continuing advances with the size of transistors can take what fills a story of a building and put it onto a disk that is less than an inch long.
Here are some thoughts on the articles read for class, not nearly as interesting as the pictures above.
1.) Computer Hardware
This article was a quick overview of what is inside a computer and how the internal parts are connected, and why they are important. On a personal note, I had a computer in the mid-90's where the internal fan broke. No one in the house could figure out where the smell of melting plastic was coming from, until we touched the CPU tower. As we waiting for the new fan to arrive in the mail (it was still under warranty), we came up with a novel solution to the broken internal fan. We removed the CPU case and put a small personal fan next to the CPU. When the computer was turned on, the fan was as well.
I wish the Bus Controllers would have been better defined, even though some of them are outdated or being phased out. Speaking of being phased out, recently I was looking into buying a new laptop and I noticed that getting a modem is now an option I would have to pay for ($44.00 if you use your student discount on apple.com). I found that shocking, but also understandable. Less people have dial up because of the amount of data they may be downloading.
2.) Moore's Law - wikipedia & video - the doubling of transistors
When thinking about this law in relation to digital camera's it makes perfect sense. From my first camera to the one I have now the prices were around the same, but I went from 3.0 mega pixels to 8 mega pixels in six years. When I got my first camera in 2003 I don't remember seeing ones with that resolution.
3.) Computer History Museum
I was unaware, but not surprised such a place existed. It is located in California, and it is free to the public. I liked their online exhibits. The visual examples of the dramatic changes in the size of computers was fascinating, to see the change from Babbage Engine to a tiny computer chip.
I also have a question, is there a way I can put all of the blogs into one blog feed?
3 comments:
I really appreciated the pictures. I am saddened by the thought of books being replaced by disks. Part of reading, in my opinion, is the feel of the book and the texture of the paper. I still enjoy reading a hardback book instead of a paperback. I may belong in the computer history museum as a retired relic.
I agree with you, I enjoy the feel of reading a book. After working at a computer all day, the last thing I want to do would be read an entire book on a computer. Until technology can mimic the feel and look of a book, I'll stick with print.
Using a digital camera as an example of Moore's Law was a great thought - that made the concept a lot more concrete & understandable for me. Thanks!
Also, I absolutely agree about "actual" books. E-Readers are getting pretty good at mimicking the look of book pages (you don't feel like you're staring at a computer screen)... but it's just not the same. I'll take the 8,000 books. (Cool picture!)
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