Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: I/O, I/O, and off to work I go...
Message-ID: <8724@cbmvax.UUCP>
Date: 27 Nov 89 22:03:49 GMT
References: <1989Nov24.033516.16214@world.std.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Commodore Technology, West Chester, PA
Lines: 36

in article <1989Nov24.033516.16214@world.std.com>, bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein) says:
> In-Reply-To: seanf@sco.COM's message of 23 Nov 89 21:25:24 GMT

> A better question: How fast is fast? How will we know? 

It's fast enough when you don't mind waiting anymore.  At least for an
interactive computer like a PC or a Workstation.  The reason personal
computers have been gaining ground there past 5 years or so is that they're
getting closer to what a larger number of people find acceptable for a
larger number of tasks.  Most folks don't mind a short wait for a
spreadsheet recalculation, a DTP display, or a program load.  After all,
they just told the computer to do something, and expect it to take a
certain amount of time to achieve that task. 

Of course, as computers get better, expectations change.  You might be
happy with 250kb/sec from your hard disk until you try a machine that gives
you 1 mb/sec.  Certainly the limit is the point where you don't notice any
time between issuing the command and viewing the result.  In fact, that's
the problem I had with the NeXT machine -- I'm used to seeing a menu the
instant I press the menu button.  On a NeXT, it takes a little while.  So I
precieve the NeXT as being slow, even though it's at least 5% faster than
my office machine in raw CPU power, and likely faster in I/O if it had a
decent hard disk on it. 

Some jobs will practically always scream for more power, but I think in most
cases the fact that you're interacting with humans is going to set the upper
limit on the need for speed.

>         -Barry Shein
> 
> Software Tool & Die, Purveyors to the Trade         | bzs@world.std.com
> 1330 Beacon St, Brookline, MA 02146, (617) 739-0202 | {xylogics,uunet}world!bzs
-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Systems Engineering) "The Crew That Never Rests"
   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
                    Too much of everything is just enough


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