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RAM / working memory:
The following is an overview of the year in which the first computer came to the mass market with the given amount of working memory. The ...
- 06-21-2008 #1Linux User
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A chronology of computing power
RAM / working memory:
The following is an overview of the year in which the first computer came to the mass market with the given amount of working memory. The numbers are extrapolated to reflect that there is a thousandfold increase every 17 years.The years may be one year off and the exponential growth has only been achieved for 3 generations, so the extrapolation may start to deviate substantially after another 5 generations or so. This should only serve as an idea as to when you will be able to buy your first exa-computer, roughly.Code:Year Name Symbol Exponent 1971 kilo- k 3 1988 mega- M 6 2005 giga- G 9 2022 tera- T 12 2039 peta- P 15 2056 exa- E 18 2073 zetta- Z 21 2090 yotta- Y 24 2107 xona- X 27 2124 weka- W 30 2141 vunda- V 33 2158 uda- U 36 2175 treda- TD 39 2192 sorta- S 42 2209 rinta- R 45 2226 quexa- Q 48 2243 pepta- PP 51 2260 ocha- O 54 2277 nena- N 57 2294 minga- MI 60 2311 luma- L 63 2328 [???] - 66 2345 [???] - 69
Also note that a luma-computer would require the same amount of atoms as the earth is built up of.
HDD / mechanical storage
There appears to be a 17 year cycle for storage devices too. The list below contains the years in which the first storage device came to the mass market.
By 2042 there may be no HDD needed for any computer as mechanical devices for storage will have been replaced by other means of storage, making these numbers meaningless. Perhaps grid storage will replace the majority of local storage. Ultimately storage will be achieved through pulses of light.Code:1957 3 K 1974 6 M 1991 9 G 2008 12 T 2025 15 P 2042 18 E
FLOPS
The following article assumes an 11-year cycle in thousandfold increases in computing power:
All hail Roadrunner's petaflop record; now, what about the exaflop?
Personally I do not see an end to this FLOPS list. The human species is clever enough to come up with ways to exponentially increase computing power somehow, free of physical constraints.Code:1986 9 G 1997 12 T 2008 15 P 2019 18 E 2030 21 Z 2041 24 Y 2052 27 X 2063 30 W


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