If a computer
is defined as an electronic device..., how
come the abacus is a computer? If a
computer, however, is any device that
performs computing, then an abacus qualifies
as one. It follows, then, that the
difference between Iron Man's 'Javis' and
the abacus is, simply, the speed of
computing, and, sophisticatedly, the scope
of presentation of solutions.
Over the ages, computing has been an
interest to many scholars and individuals,
and has never been easier and more promising
than it is today with the frontier of
quantum computing and numerous
supercomputers easily available for use. GPU
acceleration, ever denser processors,
cluster architectures, alongside creative
algorithms and code, define the leading
scape of the HPC ecosystem. Could it get
better? Can computing be revolutionised? The
laboratory institute probes for these
answers as we wonder at what else computing
can achieve for mankind, safely and
efficiently.