[idupree]

Yeah, 72/96 is shocking, but look:

We're only just now reaching the point where I can count on my friends having 64-bit CPUs.

Intel's first 64-bit mobile processor was released in mid-2006. That is only six years ago. The manufacturing transition itself was pretty quick - only a year or two until all their currently-manufactured CPUs were 64-bit [AFAIK], if we ignore Atom. Many of my friends have 6-7 year old laptops because they still work and that's all they need.

64-bit was chiefly engineering work: the CPUs didn't cost more to make because of Moore's law [I believe]. I hope that Retina screens are similarly not-more-expensive when made in large quantities. But what if they are a bit more expensive? We'll be cursed with budget 72/96 screens for maybe five more years on top of the length of time people keep their devices!

And it really will be a curse to us, personally, web designers. The Web uses images, and everyone uses the Web.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_64#Intel_64_implementation...

[Disclaimer: I am writing a science game that uses lots of 64-bit integers, so it runs noticably faster when compiled for x86_64 than for x86.]