This is a lovely allegory, unfortunately it resembles life all too well.
In the beginning, God created the bit. And the bit was a zero.
On the first day, he toggled the 0 to 1, and the Universe was.
On the second day, God's boss wanted a demo, and tried to read the
bit. This being volatile memory, the bit reverted to a 0. And the
universe wasn't. God learned the importance of backups and memory
refresh, and spent the rest of the day reinstalling the universe.
On the third day, the bit cried "Oh, Lord! If you exist, give me a
sign!" And God created rev 2.0 of the bit, even better than the
original prototype. Those in Universe Marketing immediately realized
that "new and improved" wouldn't do justice to such a grand and
glorious creation. And so it was dubbed the Most Significant Bit. Many
bits followed, but only one was so honored.
On the fourth day, God created a simple ALU with 'add' and 'logical
shift' instructions. And the original bit discovered that - by
performing a single shift instruction -- it could become the Most
Significant Bit. And God realized the importance of computer security.
On the fifth day, God created the first mid-life kicker, rev 2.0 of
the ALU, with wonderful features, and said "Forget that add and shift
stuff. Go forth and multiply." And God saw that it was good.
On the sixth day, God invented pipelines, register hazards,
optimizing compilers, crosstalk, restartable instructions,
microinterrupts, race conditions, and propagation delays. Historians
have used this to convincingly argue that the sixth day must have been
a Monday.
On the seventh day, an engineering change introduced Windows into the
Universe, and it hasn't worked right since.
<snicker>
Cyb
In the beginning, God created the bit. And the bit was a zero.
On the first day, he toggled the 0 to 1, and the Universe was.
On the second day, God's boss wanted a demo, and tried to read the
bit. This being volatile memory, the bit reverted to a 0. And the
universe wasn't. God learned the importance of backups and memory
refresh, and spent the rest of the day reinstalling the universe.
On the third day, the bit cried "Oh, Lord! If you exist, give me a
sign!" And God created rev 2.0 of the bit, even better than the
original prototype. Those in Universe Marketing immediately realized
that "new and improved" wouldn't do justice to such a grand and
glorious creation. And so it was dubbed the Most Significant Bit. Many
bits followed, but only one was so honored.
On the fourth day, God created a simple ALU with 'add' and 'logical
shift' instructions. And the original bit discovered that - by
performing a single shift instruction -- it could become the Most
Significant Bit. And God realized the importance of computer security.
On the fifth day, God created the first mid-life kicker, rev 2.0 of
the ALU, with wonderful features, and said "Forget that add and shift
stuff. Go forth and multiply." And God saw that it was good.
On the sixth day, God invented pipelines, register hazards,
optimizing compilers, crosstalk, restartable instructions,
microinterrupts, race conditions, and propagation delays. Historians
have used this to convincingly argue that the sixth day must have been
a Monday.
On the seventh day, an engineering change introduced Windows into the
Universe, and it hasn't worked right since.
<snicker>
Cyb
