Discussion on Papers 4–6

MR S.P. JAGGARD, Bristol Waterworks Company

In Paper 4, Professor Fallside set out to provide us with an impression of a large field: current developments in computer hardware and the aims and likely developments in New Generation Computer Systems. In my view he has succeeded and given us an overview of a most fascinating and exciting area of technology.

I would like to begin my discussion by enlarging upon one or two of the themes indicated in the Paper. The first is the area of current developments. In paragraph 12, Professor Fallside mentions the evolution of the Motorola microprocessor family. Complexity and processing power continues to rise at an impressive rate, placing more and more computing power at our disposal, as is shown in Fig. 1.