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1980 watches: battery lasts a couple of months 2019 watches: battery lasts a couple of hours

felipemnoa 7y ago
You forgot to mention that in 2019 you are wearing on your wrist what in 1980 would be considered a super computer and occupying several shelves worth of space. Edit: Some info that I found online. According to this article from 2015 [1 ]the apple watch is equivalent to two iPhone4s (Not sure I believe that but if true incredible). Also this quote: "Meanwhile, the Cray-2 supercomputer from 1985, which is the fastest machine in the world for its time, is now only equal to an iPhone 4." Another quote : "The Apple Watch performs about 7 billion FLOPS" According to wikipedia [2]: "The Cray-2 released in 1985 was a 4 processor liquid cooled computer totally immersed in a tank of Fluorinert, which bubbled as it operated.[8] It could perform to 1.9 gigaflops and was the world's second fastest supercomputer after M-13" So assuming that all of the information is correct then it is indeed true that the Apple watch from today is many times more powerful than a super computer from the 1980s. [1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3098315/The-supercomputer-wrist-Infographic-reveals-Apple-Watch-equivalent-two-iPhone-4s.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3098315/The-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_supercomputing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_supercomputing
- peterwwillis 7y ago
  And the software on these supercomputers is used to tell the time and display a calendar.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - matthewmacleod 7y ago
    Also decodes and plays audio, takes ECGs, monitors movement and sleeping patterns in real-time, communicates with people on the other side of the planet using a high-bandwidth global communications network, and receives and decodes positioning signals sent from space.
    - peterwwillis 7y ago
      And all of that requires 2 Cray supercomputers, unlike, say, the Apollo flight computer, a 2mhz cpu w/ 2048 words of ram and 36k of rom, in 1966
      - pb7 7y ago
        And all of that is available to tens of millions of people for a meager price.
        peterwwillis 7y ago
        I don't really care if it costs $1, it's still ridiculous that people today strap two supercomputers to their wrist so their wife on a business trip in Beijing can tell them over live high-def video to feed the cat.
        erklik 7y ago
        > it's still ridiculous that people today strap two supercomputers to their wrist so their wife on a business trip in Beijing can tell them over live high-def video to feed the cat. Or so a person in Hong Kong can say I love you to their grandmother about to pass away in a hospital.
        peterwwillis 7y ago
        They've also had these weird devices called 'telephones' for a while now, seems you can accomplish a similar feat. (Also, do people really need to say goodbye to their loved ones randomly in the middle of the day on their watch?)
        erklik 7y ago
        Not necessairly. My point was that he/she was using an example that painted the Watch/Modern Phones in a bad light, while you can find examples that paint them in a good light as well. Also, Telephones do not have nearly the same connection that video calls create. I call my younger sister, who is around 9ish, in a different country twice a day, and she regularly asks me to video her because she wants to give me kisses and wants to see me. That is possible in a normal voice call as well but its not nearly as connecting and personable as video calls are.
Whatarethese 7y ago
Funny joke but disingenuous.
jansan 7y ago
With watches like Casio's A168WA-1 the battery lasts for seven years!
matthewmacleod 7y ago
1980 supercomputers: 5 tons and cost $10m 2019 watches: 30g and cost $400
- rebuilder 7y ago
  That's a no-brainer, look at the price by weight. You can get over 6 times as much 1980's supercomputer for a dollar as you can 2019 watch.
- bscphil 7y ago
  1980 watches: 30g and cost $35 https://www.timex.com/browse/collections/ironman/ https://www.timex.com/browse/collections/ironman/ (sorry)
ben_w 7y ago
1995: battery lasts a couple of years at least, but I’m not sure exactly because the strap breaks first

You forgot to mention that in 2019 you are wearing on your wrist what in 1980 would be considered a super computer and occupying several shelves worth of space. Edit: Some info that I found online. According to this article from 2015 [1 ]the apple watch is equivalent to two iPhone4s (Not sure I believe that but if true incredible). Also this quote: "Meanwhile, the Cray-2 supercomputer from 1985, which is the fastest machine in the world for its time, is now only equal to an iPhone 4." Another quote : "The Apple Watch performs about 7 billion FLOPS" According to wikipedia [2]: "The Cray-2 released in 1985 was a 4 processor liquid cooled computer totally immersed in a tank of Fluorinert, which bubbled as it operated.[8] It could perform to 1.9 gigaflops and was the world's second fastest supercomputer after M-13" So assuming that all of the information is correct then it is indeed true that the Apple watch from today is many times more powerful than a super computer from the 1980s. [1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3098315/The-supercomputer-wrist-Infographic-reveals-Apple-Watch-equivalent-two-iPhone-4s.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3098315/The-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_supercomputing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_supercomputing

peterwwillis 7y ago
And the software on these supercomputers is used to tell the time and display a calendar.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- matthewmacleod 7y ago
  Also decodes and plays audio, takes ECGs, monitors movement and sleeping patterns in real-time, communicates with people on the other side of the planet using a high-bandwidth global communications network, and receives and decodes positioning signals sent from space.
  - peterwwillis 7y ago
    And all of that requires 2 Cray supercomputers, unlike, say, the Apollo flight computer, a 2mhz cpu w/ 2048 words of ram and 36k of rom, in 1966
    - pb7 7y ago
      And all of that is available to tens of millions of people for a meager price.
      - peterwwillis 7y ago
        I don't really care if it costs $1, it's still ridiculous that people today strap two supercomputers to their wrist so their wife on a business trip in Beijing can tell them over live high-def video to feed the cat.
        erklik 7y ago
        > it's still ridiculous that people today strap two supercomputers to their wrist so their wife on a business trip in Beijing can tell them over live high-def video to feed the cat. Or so a person in Hong Kong can say I love you to their grandmother about to pass away in a hospital.
        peterwwillis 7y ago
        They've also had these weird devices called 'telephones' for a while now, seems you can accomplish a similar feat. (Also, do people really need to say goodbye to their loved ones randomly in the middle of the day on their watch?)
        erklik 7y ago
        Not necessairly. My point was that he/she was using an example that painted the Watch/Modern Phones in a bad light, while you can find examples that paint them in a good light as well. Also, Telephones do not have nearly the same connection that video calls create. I call my younger sister, who is around 9ish, in a different country twice a day, and she regularly asks me to video her because she wants to give me kisses and wants to see me. That is possible in a normal voice call as well but its not nearly as connecting and personable as video calls are.

Whatarethese 7y ago

Funny joke but disingenuous.

jansan 7y ago

With watches like Casio's A168WA-1 the battery lasts for seven years!

matthewmacleod 7y ago

1980 supercomputers: 5 tons and cost $10m 2019 watches: 30g and cost $400

rebuilder 7y ago
That's a no-brainer, look at the price by weight. You can get over 6 times as much 1980's supercomputer for a dollar as you can 2019 watch.
bscphil 7y ago
1980 watches: 30g and cost $35 https://www.timex.com/browse/collections/ironman/ https://www.timex.com/browse/collections/ironman/ (sorry)

ben_w 7y ago

1995: battery lasts a couple of years at least, but I’m not sure exactly because the strap breaks first