IP: Supercomputing at Home -- NYT

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From today's NYTimes.  (If you don't have a paid subscription you'll only be able to check out the full article 
> today--July 15). The URL is


  <http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/07/biztech/articles/15sun.html>


And here's the first few paragraphs of the article:


  New Product From Sun Microsystems Allows Supercomputing at Home
  By JOHN MARKOFF


  SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- For more than 25 years, computer scientists have
  been working to develop a technology that would put the processing power
  of a supercomputer in the hands of average users.


  The essence of this technology, known as distributed computing, is the
  ability to divide a large set of computer instructions into multiple
  small parts, each of which is processed by a different machine within a
  network of computers.


  But few people have the need or desire to turn their laptop into a
  supercomputer. The computer industry is betting that a far more popular
  use for distributed computing will be its ability to endow consumer
  appliances -- from telephones, televisions and stereos to kitchen
  appliances and cars -- with an infusion of borrowed intelligence by
  attaching them to a computer network.


  On Wednesday, Sun Microsystems will unveil the first consumer version of
  this technology, a product called Jini, which uses Sun's Java programming
  language to harness the power of potentially millions of computers,
  ranging from giant mainframes to tiny palm-sized devices.


  "We now have all the ingredients to build a distributed computing fabric
  which approaches science fiction," said David Farber, a University of
  Pennsylvania computer scientist who pioneered distributed computing in
  1971. "You will be able to sit with your laptop, and it will be able to
  reach out across the network. And for the moments you need the power, it
  will become the largest supercomputer in the world."


.....