Can I ask a simple question? (I know that makes two)
I have not read the indepth literature on this but why can't we build cubic "chips", I mean think about it we have that supposed 0.01 mm limit (or is it smaller now?) so we can't make transistors smaller and smaller allowing us to add more transistors, so why don't we make the chip stacked. If we do we can make "Air-Slip" channels that can be used to increase the cooling of the chip. Yes I do know about the whole data stream problems but besides this (I can see this being solved soon) what is holding us back?

ps. Etuna you are a dumb #$&^!!!! I mean how can you even suggest these things? have you even tried programing before? I mean if you don't understand something (like me and the cubic chip) don't be an idiot ASK, don't spout crap that you don't understand. for example: yes the amount of ram required to run current programs is exponentialy growing, but so is the technology being used wouldn't it make sense that the programs are exponentialy more complex, so wouldn't they need more ram? DUH!!!!!

Edited by - madhack on May 21, 2000 8:16:33 PM

MadHack:
I''m sure there wouldn''t really be anything stopping us from making stacked chips like that, but you''re really adding to the amount of heat you''re dealing with there. Those transistors are really close together, getting air between them to cool them isn''t really possible. At least not with the speed needed to cool it.

Jonathan

null_pointer: actually, I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, though I by no means have been touting myself an expert, it''s just that I''ve actually built these things in a lab. Yes, I''m aware of many of the advances being made, such as the technology using cubes, crystals, and lasers for more efficient storage, and the company that is designing spherical chips for pathing efficiency. I was merely pointing out that our current technology has actual, physical limits, which we are reaching. This doesn''t mean that future technology will not surpass it using different materials, it just means that the current physical manifestation of computer chips are pretty much as efficient, size-wise, as it''s possible to get with those materials.

Are programmers efficient? Only if you pay them to be. Most companies pay programmers to get the job done as quickly as possible so long as they have a working product at the end. Sorry guys, economics is king. Going to have to deal with it. If it becomes cost-prohibitive to be innefficient, then and only then will companies ask their programmers to be efficient.

-fel

Etnu - if you want to stimulate creative thinking, get off your holier-than-thou pedestal and just ask for it. A lot of us would have discussed these theories very maturely if you hadn''t made such an ass of yourself in the first post of this thread.
We DO all have a certain measure of intelligence beyond amoeba here, and being accused of being lazy, inefficient or unprofessional tends to, well, rub us the wrong way!


#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~