tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post1432283155076421481..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: Are We In the Age of Robots?SiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-3590897441638486052013-06-01T13:15:20.090-04:002013-06-01T13:15:20.090-04:00Yes, the latest A6 processor chip in an iPhone has...Yes, the latest A6 processor chip in an iPhone has 2 cores and 3 or 4 graphics processors and 1 GB of ram on chip. The on-chip ram is 1 transistor per bit, so 8 billion just for the in-processor RAM and just a guess 500 million for the processor? Add 8 billion for each GB of flash storage. The older phones and low end MP3 players will be a lot less processor, but still the storage size keeps the count up. 8 billion for each GB of storage space.<br /><br />It is just a marvel. And it's everywhere. I was in Duluth, MN harbor a year or three ago and watched a 1000+ ft ship go under the lift bridge there. I was just struck by the thought of how we came to build that ship. How could you imagine building something that big. I guess we just started from a little skin covered boat or wood canoe and just made them bigger and bigger.<br /><br />Matthew Wennerlundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495222590506806281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-65660463425062708702013-06-01T12:20:59.830-04:002013-06-01T12:20:59.830-04:00Cool.
And we're ignoring analog and mixed si...Cool. <br /><br />And we're ignoring analog and mixed signal stuff. Admittedly lower density integration, but figure every iPod/iPhone/MP3 player has a hundred or two. Times a billion devices? <br /><br />Mind-boggling fact on numbers. Even in Haiti, probably the poorest place in the western hemisphere, 40% have cellphones. (Cuba has fewer, of course, they're commie). <br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-89947854860576222232013-06-01T12:14:19.406-04:002013-06-01T12:14:19.406-04:00I just searched for the number of PCs in the world...I just searched for the number of PCs in the world, and the guesses go from 1 to 2 billion operating PCs. Add servers and game consoles and graphics cards and routers and etc. and you might be looking at 3 billion. Even at 2 GB a piece, it is roughly 150 quintillion transistors. Hard to imagine nails going that high, even 6000 years of nails. Even if the nails are now produced by "robots" or machines, which ironically require transistors to operate :)<br /><br />You are correct; interesting topic. <br /><br /><br />Matthew Wennerlundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495222590506806281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-87118439919322855322013-06-01T12:02:08.875-04:002013-06-01T12:02:08.875-04:00"Every time I get a bit big for my britches I...<i>"Every time I get a bit big for my britches I open it and realize I'm really not all THAT smart."</i><br /><br />[shrug] It's a specialization thing. I'm sure they couldn't hold a candle to you in your expertise. The things that matter are problem-solving skills - really, thinking skills. <br /><br />We're at the point where there may be two or three people in a whole company who even <i>understand</i> everything about a product, and they generally couldn't design everything in it. It is absolutely the age of specialization. <br /><br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-9379606828879600192013-06-01T11:52:14.957-04:002013-06-01T11:52:14.957-04:00Thanks - that's an excellent point. Multiply ...Thanks - that's an excellent point. Multiply that 96 billion by a few million computers and get quadrillions of transistors. Add in the smaller numbers over the last half century, and it has to be that we've built more transistors than anything. <br /><br />I tried to find some details on the numbers of nails produced, because nails and screws are the only things I can imagine getting close in number. Couldn't get any real numbers. Nails have been around since about 3500-4000 BC, but were all individually hand made until about 1800. <br /><br />Interesting topic to ponder. <br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-33637979699017339772013-06-01T11:19:01.088-04:002013-06-01T11:19:01.088-04:00"As an aside, with 2.27 billion transistors i..."As an aside, with 2.27 billion transistors in a new processor of which many thousands will be made - and that's this year alone - I believe that mankind has made more transistors than anything else our species has ever made, even screws and nails)"<br /><br /> And the RAM or Flash memory external to the processors that the computers and robots use have a rough average of 3 transistors per bit (varies with types of RAM and Flash memory), plus some for other logic on the memory stick, your 4 GB of RAM in your computer has over 96 billion transistors. Matthew Wennerlundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06495222590506806281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-21573069598594022432013-06-01T08:09:38.457-04:002013-06-01T08:09:38.457-04:00A couple of my readers have remarked on a book on ...A couple of my readers have remarked on a book on my sidebar list of books. .SPARC Architecture, Assembly Language Programming, and C, as it's not the normal thing I read. I don't, it was written by a member of my extended family. He was teaching at a University out east when I visited as a very young woman. There was a robotic arm that would play ping pong with you. . built by one of the students. (OK, I'll just go stand in the corner and not touch anything.)<br /><br />Every time I get a bit big for my britches I open it and realize I'm really not all THAT smart.<br /><br />Great post, one of my close friends is in robotics, I am definitely going to share this with him. Thank you.Home on the Rangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03836315423040719919noreply@blogger.com