X-Message-Number: 26923 From: "John de Rivaz" <> Subject: serial vs parallel Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 12:54:41 +0100 I think the problem may be that a parallel system would be better if it has to interact with another system, but if serial and parallel systems were just set to solve a problem that did not involve controlling any peripherals, then there would be no difference between a serial computer whose processor had speed equal to the sum of the speeds of each parallel processor in the competing system. If a system has to interact with the outside world, and had to wait for internal serial computations to finish before reacting to an external event, then it would clearly be slower or even useless. Imagine a "computer" using human beings as processors, such as a telephone call centre. If there was only one operator, it could do the job of ten but take 10 times longer. But several of the customers would have ceased waiting, and have taken their custom elsewhere. -- Sincerely, John de Rivaz: http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy, Nomad .. and more Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26923