Memory

'Twas a weird day. I didn't feel like doing anything and rather than delving into memories, I decided to look up what was new in memory. Wow! GDDR6 and the move to DDR5 soon. What I noticed was clear. There is no point going faster if it cannot be sustained. "Sustainable" is the new key word and, while many may seem to deny that fact or choose to ignore it entirely, there is no way we're making our way out alive. Everyone's going to die some day. But why accelerate the process? After all we, like memory, seem to have sped up everything to its potential anyway.

Like I said, we have reached immense speeds and now it's pointless going faster. The key is increasing bandwidth and sustaining speed.

For instance, take the Bugatti Chiron. There's no point making a car that goes 500 km/h in a straight line but has to slow down to 200 km/h to take a corner. It's the same with everything. Getting up to speed is good, getting there quickly is better, but sustaining it is the challenge. The key now is to make something that can do 500, but can also corner at 400-450 or more without losing control or having external forces push it off course. It's the same with memory, cars, everything. Personally, in the real world, of course, I'd rather have a car that seats 2+2 and can go from 20-60 in a brief second while consuming zero fuel. I don't mind a top speed of 99 as well...

The thing is, though, we are living unsustainable lifestyle. It's never about cooperation. Rarely is it about sustainability. It's more about competition and one-upmanship. Motor racing is a waste of time, fuel and effort. It created a whole system of wasteful procedures that had people looking at it as a career. Burning fuel to go faster than the next person. Entertaining? At some point it was. Pushing the envelope? In hindsight, that seems completely irrelevant. 

My job had me testing and driving and speeding and, basically, enjoying the sights, sounds and thrills of combustion. Many close to me think I've gone insane. "But you're doing what you always wanted to do!" True. I am doing what I wanted to do. I don't want that now. A V12 is wasteful. A V8 is just as wasteful, as is a V6 or a straight-five. What do we need? Motive force? A 1.0L three working two jobs as engine and generator to two or three electric motors, or a clean-fuel stack doing that job would be just as effective in a 1.8-tonne luxury car as what goes in them now. Oil companies spend millions if not billions sponsoring motor sport at the expense of the Earth and its resources. What am I on about? Go figure. I don't enjoy this life anymore. There's a huge change coming and we best prepare for it.

 

The point is expanding simplicity. Doing more with less will always be enough, if we choose to see it that way. There's no reason to stretch and stockpile if it can be helped. Natural disasters will come and go, but human disasters seem to be getting worse, evolving into potentially apocalyptic forms at times.

We need to be responsible. Humans shed responsibility like a weekly skin. Everything would work, pandemic or not, if people only took responsibility for themselves. But, no. Even that seems too much to ask. If you're ill. Stay home. If you're happy, smile. If you're sad, share. If you have something to say, speak up. Stand your ground, but give other people their space. Freedom for one does not mean overstepping the boundaries for another. Life is short. And soon it won't even be a memory.