How far has parallel computing moved on since the days of the Connection Machine?
The funny thing is how quickly it went from being impossible to obvious. Everybody had “proof” that it was going to be impossible but now it is hard to get yourself in that mindframe. In the first Scientific American article I wrote about the Connection Machine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connection_Machine), I suggested that some day, big kernel computers would serve a city and everyone would use the same computer. That seemed a crazy idea but now, whenever anybody searches Google, everybody in the world is using it. Where is parallel computing headed? Part of the problem is that people don’t understand how often they use parallel computers. Like all good technology, it is reaching the point where it is becoming invisible. My definition of technology is “the stuff that doesn’t really work yet”. Parallel computing has almost crossed the line into not being a technology any more … it’s just the way things work. How about artificial intelligence? The interesting thing about AI is tha
