I feel everyone should re-read that last paragraph as it carries the most weight IMO. On Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 9:50 AM, kjj wrote: > Just some general comments on this topic/discussion. > > I suspect that there exist no algorithms which cannot be done better in > an application-specific device than in a general purpose computer. And > if there is such a thing, then it must necessarily perform best on one > specific platform, making that platform the de facto application > specific device. > > I'm not sure how one would go about proving or disproving that, but it > seems very likely to be true. > > IO-bound is exactly the same as memory bound, for devices that have > enough memory. 20 GB is already trivial today, and you don't really get > into ask-the-wife-for-permission money until you cross 128 GB. The > exception would be if the IO was to an oracle outside of the device's > control, and artificially limited in throughput. Such a centralized > oracle would be contrary to the goals usually stated by people thinking > about anti-ASIC designs, so there isn't much point. > > Keeping the algorithm simple, and ASIC-easy, has one other advantage. > Just about anyone can sit down and design an ASIC for SHA, for example, > leading to diversity in the marketplace. A harder algorithm can still > be made into an ASIC (or more generally into an ASD), but will require > more skilled designers, more expensive fabrication, etc. This actually > concentrates the ASIC advantage into the hands of fewer people, which > again, is contrary to the stated goals. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Open source business process management suite built on Java and Eclipse > Turn processes into business applications with Bonita BPM Community Edition > Quickly connect people, data, and systems into organized workflows > Winner of BOSSIE, CODIE, OW2 and Gartner awards > http://p.sf.net/sfu/Bonitasoft > _______________________________________________ > Bitcoin-development mailing list > Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development > -- - Ron end of line.