what is the speed difference between modern computers and 8-bit computers - Google Search

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+speed+difference+between+modern+computers+and+8-bit+comptuers&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1159US1159&oq=what+is+the+speed+difference+between+modern+computers+and+8-bit+comptuers&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIGCAEQIRgK0gEJMTIzMjhqMGo3qAIIsAIB8QWEAZIt2EHNDw&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

P(doom) | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

This way overstates the case.  Obviously AI will have controls.  

Furthermore, AI is not nearly as smart as we give it credit.  It is like a Wikipedia that can talk.  It understands language really well, but everything else is based on probability where certain facts and things are associated with other facts and things. 

Beyond probability, AI has little understanding of things that it is talking about, and its ability to reason is limited, although it might be able to solve simple problems.

However, this is why there is a big push to make AI smarter.  Doing so requires a great deal more hardware, and they are building it.  The AI demand for computer memory is driving up the cost of computers by a significant amount.

However, I suspect that the current methods are inefficient and they are just throwing more hardware at the problem to make it better.  This is a drain on resources, when they need to come up with better algorithms.  

So I asked ChatGPT what it thought of my points, and this is what it said...

Your core argument is clear and grounded, but it leans a bit too confidently in a few places where the reality is more nuanced. Here’s a straightforward take on the strengths and weaknesses:

What works well:

• You push back against hype. That’s valuable—AI discussions often swing toward extremes.
• The point about scaling via hardware vs. improving algorithms is thoughtful and widely debated in the field.
• You correctly note that current AI systems rely heavily on statistical patterns rather than deep “understanding” in a human sense.

Where it overreaches or could be refined:

• Saying AI is “like a Wikipedia that can talk” undersells it. Modern systems don’t just retrieve facts—they generate novel responses, combine ideas, and can perform nontrivial reasoning in some domains. It’s still probabilistic, but not merely lookup-and-repeat.
• “Beyond probability, AI has little understanding” is philosophically debatable. Even humans rely on pattern recognition more than we like to admit. The real issue is type and reliability of understanding, not its total absence.
• The claim that reasoning is limited to “simple problems” is outdated. AI can now handle fairly complex reasoning tasks, though inconsistently and with failure modes.
• “Obviously AI will have controls” is asserted too casually. In practice, governance, safety, and control mechanisms are active areas of concern—not something universally agreed upon or solved.

Your strongest idea (worth emphasizing more):

• The critique that the field may be over-relying on brute-force scaling (more compute, more memory) instead of algorithmic breakthroughs is legitimate. Many researchers are asking the same question.

How you might sharpen it:
Instead of framing AI as “not that smart,” you could frame it as:

• powerful but uneven
• impressive in narrow ways, unreliable in others
• advancing quickly, but with unclear long-term efficiency

That keeps your skepticism but makes it harder to dismiss.

If you want, I can rewrite your paragraph to sound tighter and more persuasive without losing your viewpoint.

Harvard just discovered what AI actually is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDL3Ch7Nz8c&t=240s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIYQp1n51ZI

eufy L60 Robot Vacuum with Self Empty Station

https://www.bestbuy.com/product/eufy-l60-robot-vacuum-with-self-empty-station-hair-detangling-technology-6-pack-dust-bags-black/JJ858RL6XF/sku/10772478

This is the robot vacuum cleaner I bought 1.5+ years ago.  Most of the robot vacuums I bought in the past have had mechanical issues within 2 to 3 years, and I used to buy larger, more expensive brands.  Note that some brands can go up to $1,000, and I don't feel like they are worth the cost.

I paid $300 on Amazon for it, but Amazon now lists it for $400.  I found it on Best Buy for $250.

So far I've been happy with this brand.  It seems more intelligent than all the brands I have bought before.  It is controlled with a phone App.  Some features on the app took some getting used to.

Because it is smaller, the dustbin doesn't hold much, so I feel that the self emptying station is an absolute must.  They recommend replacing the dust bag and filters once per month and it is necessary to clean out the dustbin and filters in the vacuum once or twice per month.

This vacuum works well with small debris, but large debris can clog the dustbin or the roller brush.

Once in a while it doesn't fully dock to its station so I have to give it a gentle push to get it to dock properly.

Terminator: The Story of the 6502 Code You See Onscreen

@john2001plus
The 6502 was a very simple chip, but it was cheaper and faster than other 8-bit chips.

I loved programming the 65816 on the SNES.    I wonder how the world would be today if we got 32 and 64-bit versions of the 6502?

What if everything still ran on vacuum tubes?

So This is Peak Foldable

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
When a phone unfolds from 6.6 inches to 8.1 inches, why bother—especially with a $1700 price tag? Normal phones range from 6.1 to 6.9 inches, which is fine for everyday use.

It seems to me that people want a tablet in a phone, but an 8.1-inch display falls short of my 11-inch tablet.  Maybe the argument is that you can have one device instead of two, but for this price you could get two devices.

68000 - The CPU ahead of its time

I found the 68000 easy to program.  The instructions are very straightforward.  i.e. move 8, 16, or 32 bits to a register.  Add two registers.  Move 8, 16, or 32 bits to memory.  It is almost as easy to follow as C code.

Likewise, I found the Z80 easy with its many 16-bit registers.  The 6502 has few registers, which is more difficult to program.  However, the 6502 has a trick, which is zero page instructions that use fewer clock cycles to access the first 256 bytes in memory.  Programmers can use the zero page like registers.

Elon Musk unveils TeraFab project to create ‘galactic civilisation’

https://www.the-independent.com/tech/elon-musk-terafab-robots-ai-spacex-tesla-b2943643.html

5 MB of computer data in 1966

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L_SbT_KcfI

Re: Apple’s Cheapest MacBook

On Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM Albert wrote:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/apple-announces-its-cheapest-ever-new-macbook/ar-AA1Xwxu0?ocid=edgemobile

The benchmark for the A18 Pro chip is not bad, but a little slower than the M1 chip.  For a low cost and likely low power laptop, I think that it will be terrific.  On a phone this seems insane.

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Apple+A18+Pro&id=6268

The 2017 Core-i7 iMac I sold had a benchmark of around 10,000.  My 2020 Core-i7 model is around 19,000, but it has twice as many cores.  These are power hungry computers compared to the low power RISC style chips that Apple makes.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

The Incredible Evolution of Computers

I like the video.  Unfortunately, it is just the first part of four.

The first microprocessor, the 4-bit Intel 4004, was created for Japanese companies that wanted to make the first electronic calculators.  I have seen 4-bit devices used for cheap electronics, like low cost chess playing computers.

In the first half of the 1980s, 8-bit computers were the norm, with the Apple II costing up to $1,300, and the IBM models costing considerably more.  The Atari 800 started at $1,000, and the Commodore 64 started at $595, which adjusted for inflation would cost $1900 today.

Sinclair, along with Timex, were offering budget models that created a dedicated fan base.

In the second half of the 1980s, the industry was moving to 16-bit, so the 8-bit models were being heavily discounted.  The C64 sold for $100 or less.

The 1990s saw a slow transition to 32-bit computers, and the 2000s saw a slow transition to 64-bit.  There is almost no reason to go to a higher number of bits, except for graphics cards that range from 64-bit to 384-bit.

Explaining the dangers of leaving an SSD unplugged

Floppy disks are STILL relevant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd8PSlzoz64

X1 Lite First Look! The Best Budget Mini PC of 2026? They Might’ve Nailed It

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
The CPU benchmark is 4% worse than my Minisforum UM790 Pro that I bought 2.5 years ago, and the 32GB 1TB model costs the same, probably due to high RAM prices.

My UM790 Pro had an overheating problem and died, so I had to get it fixed.  I also see thermal throttling.  So if this computer runs cooler then it is a better option.

Lava Lamps Protect Your Data

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oW6YwSUyfzw

9,999,999,999 squared on the Friden STW10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwiIWKE8Ap8

The Entire History of Computers in 9 Minutes

Is your M.2 SSD outdated?

How most 16" Macbook Pros often kill themselves & why they're unfixable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cNg_ifibCQ&t=777s

Meta’s new paper shows a new approach to language vision models

AMD Just Dropped a GPU KILLER!

Make your PC faster without spending a DIME!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=776LNK9a3-s

What Everyone Gets Wrong About the AI Bubble

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcv0600V5q4

8GB vs 16GB for M1 Mac — The TRUTH About RAM!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma8KjSH7Hok

I wrote five years ago that 8 GB of RAM would not be adequate in five years. Some people disagreed. Things haven't changed a whole lot except that Apple has come up with more powerful processors. In the last six years, I have upgraded to a newer Intel-based iMac three times! I currently have 16G of RAM. My previous computers had 40 GB, 32 GB, and 24GB. I keep going down, but just like five years ago, 16 GB seems to do the job. I believe that for the software development I am learning, 8GB would be a bottleneck.

The M5 Makes $1,600 Feel Like Theft

The video title is click bait.

The 2010's were a computer performance desert.  Companies were bragging about single digit performance improvements from one year to the next.  My 2017 iMac was only about twice as powerful as my 2009 iMac.  Both computers were energy hogs.

AMD and especially Intel were having a hard time shrinking chip circuits.  The laws of physics were starting to get in the way as the circuits got smaller.

So in 2020 Apple introduced a much simpler chip based on Arm Risc technology, with significantly smaller circuits, and it blew the competition out of the water.  

Apple had purchased a chip design company, although the real hero is the Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company who figured out how to manufacture smaller circuits.

Apple abandoned Intel compatibility, but they were betting on great performance to lure away Intel customers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AtTk3XoQVs

The M5 Makes $1,600 Feel Like Theft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AtTk3XoQVs

1985 Credit Cards were Insane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix2ETzMMBMA

I find these claims questionable, as does the comment section.  I am quite familiar with 8-bit computers at the time.  Ram chips were expensive and bulky, requiring many to make 64K.  

The wikipedia page on smart cards doesn't seem to support this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_card

Three Levels of Game Boy Programming

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W5wmBjaB_ys

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
When I was a Game Boy Color programmer, it was all assembly language.

Problems with Internet Access after Mac OS Update

My iMac is dual-boot, meaning it can start up in either macOS or Windows 10. I mostly use the now-outdated Windows 10, but yesterday I switched to macOS to learn app programming. While using macOS, I was prompted to upgrade to the latest version of the operating system. I accepted the upgrade, which took about an hour. Everything worked fine afterward, both in macOS and when I switched back to Windows 10.

However, after leaving my computer in "sleep" mode overnight, I found in the morning that Windows 10 could no longer access the Internet. My other computer and my phone could connect without any problem.

I tried the obvious fixes — rebooting the gateway (router) and restarting the computer a couple of times — but nothing worked. When I switched to macOS, it connected to the Internet just fine. Then I set up a hotspot on my phone, and Windows 10 was able to access the Internet through that, which told me it wasn't a hardware issue and likely not a problem with the gateway.

I suspected that upgrading macOS might have caused the Boot Camp drivers used by Windows to become outdated. So, in macOS, I formatted a flash drive and used Boot Camp Assistant to copy the latest drivers onto it. Then I rebooted into Windows and reinstalled the drivers.

Initially, that didn't seem to help. I was about to call Comcast technical support, but I decided to reboot the gateway one more time. For a few seconds after restarting it, the Internet still didn't work — and then suddenly, Windows connected.

Apparently, the fix was a combination of updating the Boot Camp drivers and rebooting the gateway.