More than 70 years into computing, Moore’s Law keeps on doubling performance of the basic engine of the post-industrial information age. Looking back at this incredible progress makes me wonder, “Who has had the biggest influence on computing since electronic digital computers were designed and built for the first time in the 1940s?” Continue reading Who is Big in Computing – Part 1?
Imitators and Innovators Adopt RISC
2015 marks 40 years since John Cocke of IBM Research introduced the idea of a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) to the world. It has been a long road, but today RISC architecture computer systems dominate the mobile computing landscape. More than 50 billion processors have been delivered to consumers through the purchase of products ranging from TV set-top boxes, tablets, and most significantly, cell phones. RISC is an overnight success story that took 40 years to be realized. Continue reading Imitators and Innovators Adopt RISC
What Can Paragons of Literature Teach Us about Writing Better Computer Programs?
Playwright and raconteur George Bernard Shaw is reported to have said, “The greatest problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished.” This is true both for writing a text or giving a speech. Why? Largely because while grappling with mechanics of writing, we all too often lose sight of another important insight into effective communication enunciated by novelist and essayist Robert Louis Stevenson: “Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.” Continue reading What Can Paragons of Literature Teach Us about Writing Better Computer Programs?
Are Google and Apple About to Pivot?
Pivoting happens whenever a startup misses the market and goes back to the drawing board to construct a new strategy. A pivot is a radical change in direction forced on a company about to capsize. Continue reading Are Google and Apple About to Pivot?