[Vo]:OFF TOPIC Are SSD substantially faster than hard disks?

[Jed Rothwell]

This is off topic, but if anyone has experience with these SSD 
things, please contact me. Someone told me that the performance 
improvement is small, and the new 15000 rpm hard disks are actually 
faster. I find that hard to believe.

I cannot find many comparisons. A 2008 NY Times article says an SSD 
improved overall performance by half and "disk performance increased 
fivefold" on a Mac laptop.

- Jed