speed and power of supercomputers, the fastest class of computer, are almost beyond human comprehension, and their capabilities are continually being improved. The most sophisticated ofthese machines can perform nearly 32 billion calculations per second, can store a billion characters in memory at one time, and can do in one hour what a desktop computer would take 40 years to do.Supercomputers attain these speeds through the use of several advanced engineering techniques. For example, critical circuitry is supercooled to nearly absolute zero so that electrons can move at thespeed of light, and many processors are linked in such a way that they can all work on a single problem simultaneously. Because these computers can cost millions of dollars, they are used primarily bygovernment agencies and large research centers. Computer development is rapidly progressing at both the high and the low ends of the computing spectrum. On the high end, by linking together networks of several small computers and programming them to use a language called Linda, scientists have been able to outperform the supercomputer. This technology is called parallel processing and helps avoid hours of idle computer time. A goal of this technology is the creation of a machine that could perform a trillion calculations per second, a measure known as a teraflop. On the other end of the spectrum, companies like Apple and Compaq are developing small, handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs). The Apple Newton, for example, lets people use a pen to input handwritten information through a touch-sensitive screen and to send mail and faxes to other computers. Researchers are currently developing microchips called digital signalprocessors, or DSPs, to enable these PDAs to recognize and interpret human speech. This development, which will permit people in all professions to use a computer quickly and easily, promises to lead to arevolution in the way humans communicate and t...
