[csmuk]

Astute observation. We're already there.

Most people I know, including myself, are quite happy on a 6-7 year old unit.

Bar developers, graphic artists (2d,3d), video, mega-data there's sod all use for a 12 core Xeon. Don't start spewing gaming either as the Xbox one doesn't have a 12 core Xeon in it!

[rch]

Don't forget about engineers and medical research. Moving data off-site for processing isn't always an option. Even when it is, there is money to be saved by running sub-sampled data locally and prototyping models before scaling up.

I'm getting a 12 core asap, but eager for more compute-focused options.

[mathattack]

Why wouldn't it be theoretically possible to move the data off-site? Too big? Again I'm assuming there is some seamless way for the operating system to treat off-machine cores and in-machine cores.

[rch]

Mostly just policy around certain types of data. That people who complain about such policies are also willing to e-mail around zip files is beside the point.

Edit: it seems like I read about certain algorithms that could perform calculations without direct knowledge of the underlying data, but I can't find a link. It only worked for a specific class of problems in any case.

[Someone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption

[rch]

Thanks!

[mathattack]

ok - so this is just for the corporate environment that there would be these issues? But couldn't they just have a similar getup sending all their processing to their own data center in the background?

My intuition has us going back to the dumb terminal mode, albeit with a very fancy screen.