Computing the Impossible #TechVision THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR Skills and Benchmarks The problem-solving capabilities enabled by this new wave of computing may lead to the biggest technological disruptions of our time. Due to the nature of the problems at hand, TOP500 is a project dedicated to tracking the 186 when breakthroughs are made, adoption is 500 most powerful computers in the world. likely to scale up rapidly and to cross-pollinate While those on the list can provide insight into other industries just as fast. The risk of into the top end performance of machines, being taken by surprise could be devastating this list only tells part of the story. Tesla’s Dojo, to businesses that find themselves competing for instance, will not appear on the list. This is in yesterday’s market. primarily due to proprietary information, but it’s worth considering how we measure the There are obvious signs to follow in order to track performance of these machines. In TOP500’s this trend – namely, benchmarking. But it’s just case, they use a benchmark called LINPACK, as important for leaders tracking the maturity of which measures the machine’s performance 187 these machines to understand exactly how to on “a dense system of linear equations.” While interpret that information. that is an excellent general benchmark, it’s an incomplete evaluation of something like Dojo, Introduction // WebMe // Programmable World // The Unreal // Computing the Impossible 83