3 ms·

Not convincing. This post: * Aggregates disparate devices (e.g. PC, smartphone and watch) * Mentions functional units which could theoretically be treated lik

Not convincing. This post: * Aggregates disparate devices (e.g. PC, smartphone and watch) * Mentions functional units which could theoretically be treated like a computer (e.g. Turing-complete) - but aren't a computer which acts independently. * Counts cores as different computers, but - either a core is a computer, or the system with multiple cores is a computer. The computation a multi-core system does is having one of its cores run. So basically, you'll be told about the on-Mobo chip for controlling its operations, and the Intel Management Engine and the AMD equivalent. Not worth the read IMHO.

Sirened 4y ago
I think the titular question is more rhetorical than actually attempting to give you a count. Lots of people do really think that there is one "computer" in their laptop when in fact the question of what a computer even is poses a way more difficult question. I loved the note on the MMU because it, aside from being a hilarious conference talk, poses the question of where we can even draw the line because clearly if the MMU can implement full programs than surely it's wrong to draw the line at the borders of a core on a SoC. Modern hardware is really funky and cool, and this article provides a good introduction to the chaos.
PeterisP 4y ago
And the quite capable computers that do things like being controllers for your hard drive, or wifi or other devices on your "computer" ? A relevant example is this article "Evil never sleeps" https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.06114 https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.06114 about the ability of those "secondary computers" to function without the cooperation of the primary computer, in this case the iPhone where they even work (sometimes maliciously) while the main device is "turned off".
- einpoklum 4y ago
  Oh, yes, these definitely exist. There was even a paper a few years back in VLDB from Samsung about how they put un-utilized ARM cores from their disk controllers to do work off-loaded from a MySQL database.

Sirened 4y ago

I think the titular question is more rhetorical than actually attempting to give you a count. Lots of people do really think that there is one "computer" in their laptop when in fact the question of what a computer even is poses a way more difficult question. I loved the note on the MMU because it, aside from being a hilarious conference talk, poses the question of where we can even draw the line because clearly if the MMU can implement full programs than surely it's wrong to draw the line at the borders of a core on a SoC. Modern hardware is really funky and cool, and this article provides a good introduction to the chaos.

PeterisP 4y ago

And the quite capable computers that do things like being controllers for your hard drive, or wifi or other devices on your "computer" ? A relevant example is this article "Evil never sleeps" https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.06114 https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.06114 about the ability of those "secondary computers" to function without the cooperation of the primary computer, in this case the iPhone where they even work (sometimes maliciously) while the main device is "turned off".

einpoklum 4y ago
Oh, yes, these definitely exist. There was even a paper a few years back in VLDB from Samsung about how they put un-utilized ARM cores from their disk controllers to do work off-loaded from a MySQL database.