[vcf-midatlantic] OT: people don't understand computers anymore

[Dave McGuire]

On 06/07/2016 02:28 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
>>> where an operating system requires billions of bytes of RAM just to boot.
> 
> Devil's advocate... so what? Storage is basically free now.  

  Right, that's what these kids are taught.  Trouble is, it ISN'T free,
and it's not scalable.  A number of bad things happen under the covers
when something uses too much RAM or too much disk.  Just think about
caching, for example.  Is it "just fine" that things are so damn slow
nowadays?  This is one of the reasons.

  Another point is power consumption.  Storage pulls a good bit of
power.  Consuming more storage than necessary means consuming more power
than necessary.  This might only add ten bucks to your power bill, but
look at big computers with hundreds, or even thousands of processors.
That thought process doesn't bode well in that environment, and that
type of environment is becoming more common in leaps and bounds.  And
you know what?  The people writing code there know how computers work.

             -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA