Computing power analogies

Robin Vickery robinv at gmail.com
Tue Dec 11 15:01:51 GMT 2007


On 11/12/2007, Edmund von der Burg <evdb at ecclestoad.co.uk> wrote:
> So these computer things are getting quite smart, and it would be nice
> to be able to analogize their smarts to something a bit more tangible.
>
> Wristwatches these days tend to be compared to the space shuttle.
>
> Desktops tend to be compared to the super computers of yesteryear.
>
> Not having had a space shuttle or an oldish supercomputer on hand to
> play with yet I have no real feel for the oompf of the processing
> power they represent.
>
> Could someone please suggest something more everydayish that I can use
> in my analogies. Basically fill in the blank in the following
> sentence:
>
>   "Well Grand-Ma, this new iPhone thing is as powerful as ..................."

the toys you'll get free in your cereal in 5 years time.


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