<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">I feel everyone should re-read that last paragraph as it carries the most weight IMO.</span><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 9:50 AM, kjj <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bitcoin-devel@jerviss.org" target="_blank">bitcoin-devel@jerviss.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Just some general comments on this topic/discussion.<br>
<br>
I suspect that there exist no algorithms which cannot be done better in<br>
an application-specific device than in a general purpose computer. And<br>
if there is such a thing, then it must necessarily perform best on one<br>
specific platform, making that platform the de facto application<br>
specific device.<br>
<br>
I'm not sure how one would go about proving or disproving that, but it<br>
seems very likely to be true.<br>
<br>
IO-bound is exactly the same as memory bound, for devices that have<br>
enough memory. 20 GB is already trivial today, and you don't really get<br>
into ask-the-wife-for-permission money until you cross 128 GB. The<br>
exception would be if the IO was to an oracle outside of the device's<br>
control, and artificially limited in throughput. Such a centralized<br>
oracle would be contrary to the goals usually stated by people thinking<br>
about anti-ASIC designs, so there isn't much point.<br>
<br>
Keeping the algorithm simple, and ASIC-easy, has one other advantage.<br>
Just about anyone can sit down and design an ASIC for SHA, for example,<br>
leading to diversity in the marketplace. A harder algorithm can still<br>
be made into an ASIC (or more generally into an ASD), but will require<br>
more skilled designers, more expensive fabrication, etc. This actually<br>
concentrates the ASIC advantage into the hands of fewer people, which<br>
again, is contrary to the stated goals.<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Open source business process management suite built on Java and Eclipse<br>
Turn processes into business applications with Bonita BPM Community Edition<br>
Quickly connect people, data, and systems into organized workflows<br>
Winner of BOSSIE, CODIE, OW2 and Gartner awards<br>
<a href="http://p.sf.net/sfu/Bonitasoft" target="_blank">http://p.sf.net/sfu/Bonitasoft</a><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Bitcoin-development mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net">Bitcoin-development@lists.sourceforge.net</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development" target="_blank">https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bitcoin-development</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>- Ron<div>end of line.</div>
</div>