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The one I often think about is: Your USB-C charger is more powerful than the Apollo 11's computer. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a30916315/usb-c-

The one I often think about is: Your USB-C charger is more powerful than the Apollo 11's computer. https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a30916315/usb-c-charger-apollo-11-computer/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a30916315/usb-c-...

ElCapitanMarkla 4y ago
This blew my 12 year old mind when someone said this about that Furby toy back in the late 90s.
verisimi 4y ago
... and yet its travelled 12 billion miles from Earth
- elevaet 4y ago
  The power of persistence!
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    and radioisotope thermoelectric generators... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...
    - elevaet 4y ago
      Touché!
    - LoveMortuus 4y ago
      Could you power a house with a few dozen of these RTGs? Or are they just so obscenely expensive? If you could use these then you wouldn't really need batteries, which you do need if you go solar. Is it even possible for a mortal to buy a RTG?
      - nix23 4y ago
        You can steal some from russian lighthouses....on your own risk.
      - fennecfoxen 4y ago
        Generally it'd be more efficient to build a nuclear power plant with the materials from the RTG, and power many houses.
      - wcoenen 4y ago
        The voyager probes had 450 watt of total electrical power at launch, supplied by 3 RTGs. The plutonium alone in one of those RTG units (4.5kg) would easily cost $10M. And it's the type of thing that is only used by government programs, very dangerous to handle, and which requires a whole specialized industry to produce. The accounting gets complicated. I wouldn't be surprised by a $100M cost per RTG unit.
      - floxy 4y ago
        The Cassini probe used about 60 pounds of plutonium-238 for its RTGs, at a cost of around $200 million for just the plutonium.
- qubex 4y ago
  Computing power is nothing without a high Delta-V rocket under your backside.
Razengan 4y ago
I remember reading that the SIM card in your phone was equivalent [or superior] to a Commodore 64..
- colejohnson66 4y ago
  Your SIM card is running full blown Java applications in a “secure enclave” like chip. Good luck getting a 6502 system to do that.

ElCapitanMarkla 4y ago

This blew my 12 year old mind when someone said this about that Furby toy back in the late 90s.

verisimi 4y ago

... and yet its travelled 12 billion miles from Earth

elevaet 4y ago
The power of persistence!
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  and radioisotope thermoelectric generators... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...
  - elevaet 4y ago
    Touché!
  - LoveMortuus 4y ago
    Could you power a house with a few dozen of these RTGs? Or are they just so obscenely expensive? If you could use these then you wouldn't really need batteries, which you do need if you go solar. Is it even possible for a mortal to buy a RTG?
    - nix23 4y ago
      You can steal some from russian lighthouses....on your own risk.
    - fennecfoxen 4y ago
      Generally it'd be more efficient to build a nuclear power plant with the materials from the RTG, and power many houses.
    - wcoenen 4y ago
      The voyager probes had 450 watt of total electrical power at launch, supplied by 3 RTGs. The plutonium alone in one of those RTG units (4.5kg) would easily cost $10M. And it's the type of thing that is only used by government programs, very dangerous to handle, and which requires a whole specialized industry to produce. The accounting gets complicated. I wouldn't be surprised by a $100M cost per RTG unit.
    - floxy 4y ago
      The Cassini probe used about 60 pounds of plutonium-238 for its RTGs, at a cost of around $200 million for just the plutonium.
qubex 4y ago
Computing power is nothing without a high Delta-V rocket under your backside.

Razengan 4y ago

I remember reading that the SIM card in your phone was equivalent [or superior] to a Commodore 64..

colejohnson66 4y ago
Your SIM card is running full blown Java applications in a “secure enclave” like chip. Good luck getting a 6502 system to do that.