Before I hit <send> on one of my massive missives... here's a shorter
but hopefully entertaining question:
What is the value of the familiar figurative description of
Supercomputing as "Big Iron".
Our original "big iron" (automotive and motorcycle anyway) came
from the upper midwest (Wisconson, Minnesota, Michigan) as did much
of our supercomputing (CDC, Cray Research, etc.).
If the CDC 6600/7600 was a Chevy BelAir, was the CRAY 1 a Dodge
Challenger or a Ford Mustang?
If the IBM 360 was a Harley Electra Glide, what was the Indian Scout
or the
Both Harley and Indian let the german BMW military bikes inform
their own design for the same purpose, as the Nazi Enigma may have
motivated if not inspired the Colossus, the ENIAC, the Mark?
I've always loved my rice-burners (mostly Hondas but at least one
Suzuki, Yamaha, and a Kawasaki) so I suppose I should have be a fan
of the Fujitsu Kei?
And what is the Tesla Motorcars of Supercomputing?
And what would a BMW GS kinda guy like Doug consider as capable in
the big open highways, rain-slicked twisties and the logging roads
of scientific computing?
Puzzling on it...
- Steve
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