Path: csiph.com!v102.xanadu-bbs.net!xanadu-bbs.net!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!panix!roy From: Roy Smith Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Subject: Re: OT: This Swift thing Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 10:51:24 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Lines: 30 Message-ID: References: <8738fjkc2w.fsf@dpt-info.u-strasbg.fr> <53929baf$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <5393a264$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> <5393dd6a$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: localhost X-Trace: reader1.panix.com 1402239084 7397 127.0.0.1 (8 Jun 2014 14:51:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@panix.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2014 14:51:24 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.3b3 (Intel Mac OS X) Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:72963 In article <5393dd6a$0$29988$c3e8da3$5496439d@news.astraweb.com>, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > On Sat, 07 Jun 2014 20:09:37 -0400, Roy Smith wrote: > > > We've also got machines that are so fast, it's not longer critical that > > we squeeze out every last iota of performance. Oh, but wait, now we're > > trying to do absurd things like play full-motion video games on phones, > > where efficiency equates to battery life. Sigh. > > That's where there needs to be a concerted push to develop more efficient > CPUs and memory, in the engineering sense of efficiency (i.e. better > power consumption, not speed). In desktop and server class machines, > increasing speed has generated more and more waste heat, to the point > where Google likes to build its server farms next to rivers to reduce > their air conditioning costs. You can't afford to do that on a battery. > > Even for desktops and servers, I'd prefer to give up, say, 80% of future > speed gains for a 50% reduction in my electricity bill. For desktops, I'm more concerned about physical size. On my desk at work, I have a Mac Mini. It's about 8 inches square, by an inch and a half high. It sits in a corner of my desk and doesn't take up much room. The guy that sits next to me has a Dell running Linux. It's about 8 inches wide, 15 inches deep, and 24 inches high. In terms of CPU, memory, disk, video, networking, etc, they have virtually identical specs. I've never compared the power consumption, but I assume his eats many time the electricity mine does (not to mention makes more noise).