> In a message dated 3/30/00, Jim Van Nuland writes:
>
> > Yes, expectations *do* change -- hard to believe I first computed
> > on a machine that had a 10 KiloHz clock rate, and 20 kbytes of
> > memory....
>
> Is that really 10 KHz? Now, classroom calculators such as a TI-89 run at
> 10-12 MHz (Motorola 68000 processor) and do symbolic calculus.
Yes -- that's why I spelled out Kilo. The main memory drum set
the basic rate, 96 microseconds per clock cycle. A typical
instruction took 3 or 4 steps, if the data was optimally placed on
the drum. Which it rarely was.
And now I'm running a Pentium at 200 MHz., and it's considered
slow. Interesting times....
-- Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association