'Cracking' computer ...
We have had some 'cracking' related news items this week. I say cracking because it brings together related technology stories spanning 60 years. The Colossus WW2 code cracking computer has been restored to working condition by the National Museum of Computing and laid down a challenge. A German transmitter would send a coded message, and the clock would start ticking. The challenge was to break the code before Colossus! Joachim Scuth from Bonn did it ... with a suite of software designed for the purpose, and using a modern computer. I think the re-building of this Tommy Flowers masterpiece is an amazing achievement, especially as the parts had been scattered.
Also this week, Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel of Moore's Law fame declared that his law (... that the number of transistors it is possible to squeeze on to a chip for a fixed cost doubles every two years - the basis of continued miniaturisation), that it couldn't continue beyond the next decade. We've squished it all we can apparently, ao the rise in computer performance and constant lowering of price is nearly over ... or is it? Because, also this week the future directions of computing were discussed, amongst which is carbon nanotubes and the quantum computer. I'm afraid my brain leaves my head when quantum physics is discussed. 1's and 0's and both at the same time ... ouch. Where did I put that Higgs Boson particle? ...
The real point is, this development from nowhere to quantum computers ... is one lifetime. I looked at the Colossus computer and remember working on similar technology as a young apprentice. How can we know what lives our children will be living?