--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: axis, all of those straight-ish lines…" description: "\"“axis, all of those straight-ish lines would look like the first graph above of Andy’s tribble family—horizontal most of the way, then suddenly close t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f1/erik-brynjolfsson-9007_building-blocks_axis-all-of-those-straight-ish-lines-wou_783974.jpg" --- # axis, all of those straight-ish lines would look like the… ![“axis, all of those straight-ish lines would look like the first graph above of Andy’s tribble family—horizontal most of the way, then suddenly close to vertical at the end. And there would really be no way to graph them all together—the numbers involved are just too different. Logarithmic scaling…” quote by Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f1/erik-brynjolfsson-9007_building-blocks_axis-all-of-those-straight-ish-lines-wou_783974.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f1/erik-brynjolfsson-9007_building-blocks_axis-all-of-those-straight-ish-lines-wou_783974.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f1/erik-brynjolfsson-9007_building-blocks_axis-all-of-those-straight-ish-lines-wou_783974.jpg) > ““axis, all of those straight-ish lines would look like the first graph above of Andy’s tribble family—horizontal most of the way, then suddenly close to vertical at the end. And there would really be no way to graph them all together—the numbers involved are just too different. Logarithmic scaling takes care of these issues and allows us to get a clear overall picture of improvement in digital gear. It’s clear that many of the critical building blocks of computing—microchip density, processing speed, storage capacity, energy efficiency, download speed, and so on—have been improving at exponential rates for a long time. To understand the real-world impacts of Moore’s Law, let’s compare the capabilities of computers separated by only a few doubling periods. The ASCI Red, the first product of the U.S. government’s Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative, was the world’s fastest supercomputer when it was introduced in 1996. It cost $55 million to develop and its one hundred cabinets occupied nearly 1,600 square feet of floor space (80 percent of a tennis court) at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.10 Designed for calculation-intensive tasks like simulating nuclear tests, ASCI Red was the first computer to score above one teraflop—one trillion floating point operations\* per second—on the standard benchmark test for computer speed. To reach this speed it used eight hundred kilowatts per hour, about as much as eight hundred homes would. By 1997, it had reached 1.8 teraflops.”” [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Exponential improvements in computing hardware require logarithmic scaling to compare disparate metrics, revealing rapid progress across multiple dimensions. **In simple terms:** Log scales help compare fast tech growth Key Takeaway Use log scales for clear tech comparisons Themes technology progress exponential growth Mood analytical forward‑looking Type technical informative When to use this quote - hardware design - performance analysis - investment decisions Key Concepts logarithmic scaling Moore’s Law Questions to Reflect On - What limits does exponential tech growth face? - How can we responsibly manage rapid tech change? A Different Perspective Log scales can mask absolute differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Building blocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-blocks/) [Computer Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-speed-4767481/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Energy efficiency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy-efficiency/) [Fastest Supercomputer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fastest-supercomputer-6035369/) [Logarithmic Scaling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logarithmic-scaling-6035368/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Supercomputer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supercomputer-822383/) [Supercomputer Introduced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supercomputer-introduced-6035367/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [You can't do better design with a computer, but you can speed up your work enormously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wim-crouwel/you-can-t-do-better-design-with-a-computer-but-you-can-speed-up-your/) [Wim Crouwel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wim-crouwel/) > [“I have the brain of a malfunctioning supercomputer!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-have-the-brain-of-a-malfunctioning-supercomputer/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [There is supercomputer somewhere in the Nevada desert whose sole function is to count the number of times that I have said the following,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/there-is-supercomputer-somewhere-in-the-nevada-desert-whose-sole/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“Salander was up at 5:00 the next morning and hacked into the NSF Major Research Instrumentation supercomputer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology—she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lagercrantz/salander-was-up-at-5-00-the-next-morning-and-hacked-into-the-nsf/) [David Lagercrantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lagercrantz/) > [I take computers practically apart and put them back together. I have a supercomputer I built over the years out of different computers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-leto/i-take-computers-practically-apart-and-put-them-back-together-i-have/) [Jared Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-leto/) > [Computers get better faster than anything else ever. A child's PlayStation today is more powerful than a military supercomputer from 1996.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/computers-get-better-faster-than-anything-else-ever-a-child-s-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With a smartphone, we have a supercomputer in our pocket and are always connected. The way we bank is changing as part of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taavet-hinrikus/with-a-smartphone-we-have-a-supercomputer-in-our-pocket-and-are/) [Taavet Hinrikus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taavet-hinrikus/) > [The Connection Machine was the most powerful supercomputer in the world. It is a complex supercomputer and it will take forever to completely describe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-emeagwali/the-connection-machine-was-the-most-powerful-supercomputer-in-the/) [Philip Emeagwali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-emeagwali/) > [I think smartphones are one of humanity's most remarkable creations: computers are amazing enough, but a supercomputer you can carry in your pocket and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lanchester/i-think-smartphones-are-one-of-humanity-s-most-remarkable-creations/) [John Lanchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lanchester/) > [“Jack Dongarra, a researcher at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Lab and part of a team that tracks supercomputer speed, determined that Apple’s best-selling tablet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-barrat/jack-dongarra-a-researcher-at-tennessee-s-oak-ridge-national-lab-and/) [James Barrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-barrat/) > [You have available to you, right now, a powerful supercomputer. This powerful tool has been used through-out history to take people from rags to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/you-have-available-to-you-right-now-a-powerful-supercomputer-this/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) > [“By contrast, he said, the Deep Blue supercomputer that beat him at chess in 1996 and 1997 was simply a very fast computer that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/by-contrast-he-said-the-deep-blue-supercomputer-that-beat-him-at/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today, your cell phone has more computer power than all of NASA back in 1969, when it placed two astronauts on the moon. Video…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/today-your-cell-phone-has-more-computer-power-than-all-of-nasa-back/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [Without going too deep, without globalization I am not sure everyone would be able to have a supercomputer in their pocket at the low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-moelis/without-going-too-deep-without-globalization-i-am-not-sure-everyone/) [Ken Moelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-moelis/) > [“Helen was beautiful in the way a supercomputer was beautiful: sleek with elegant but utilitarian styling, full of top-notch technological know-how, far too expensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/helen-was-beautiful-in-the-way-a-supercomputer-was-beautiful-sleek/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) ## More by Erik Brynjolfsson > [“The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.” —Albert A. Bartlett”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/the-greatest-shortcoming-of-the-human-race-is-our-inability-to/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“But analog photography peaked in 2000.2”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/but-analog-photography-peaked-in-2000-2/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“originated at the California research institute SRI International and was purchased by Apple in 2010, listened to what iPhone users were saying to it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/originated-at-the-california-research-institute-sri-international-and/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“Montessori classrooms emphasize self-directed learning, hands-on engagement with a wide variety of materials (including plants and animals), and a largely unstructured school day. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/montessori-classrooms-emphasize-self-directed-learning-hands-on/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“In fact, the ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay has increased from 70 in 1990 to 300 in 2005, and much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/in-fact-the-ratio-of-ceo-pay-to-average-worker-pay-has-increased-from/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“there’s never been a better time to be a worker with special skills or the right education, because these people can use technology to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/there-s-never-been-a-better-time-to-be-a-worker-with-special-skills/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“Work saves a man from three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/work-saves-a-man-from-three-great-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“Kodak made its founder, George Eastman, a rich man, but it also provided middle-class jobs for generations of people and created a substantial share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/kodak-made-its-founder-george-eastman-a-rich-man-but-it-also-provided/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [Knowing how to keep someone motivated and how to keep a connection are skills humans have learned and evolved over hundreds of thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/knowing-how-to-keep-someone-motivated-and-how-to-keep-a-connection/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“The many years that we all spend in schools learning skills like reading, writing, and arithmetic—as well as the additional learning that happens on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/the-many-years-that-we-all-spend-in-schools-learning-skills-like/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [Computers get better, faster than anything else ever. A child's PlayStation today is more powerful than a military supercomputer from 1996. But our brains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/computers-get-better-faster-than-anything-else-ever-a-child-s/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“Steven Pinker puts it, “The main lesson of thirty-five years of AI research is that the hard problems are easy and the easy problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/steven-pinker-puts-it-the-main-lesson-of-thirty-five-years-of-ai/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“And the data on everything from air quality to commodity prices to levels of violence show improvement over time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/and-the-data-on-everything-from-air-quality-to-commodity-prices-to/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [“the message the labor market is clearly sending is that it’s much easier to create value with highly educated workers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/the-message-the-labor-market-is-clearly-sending-is-that-it-s-much/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) > [Technology has always been destroying jobs, and it has always been creating jobs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-brynjolfsson/technology-has-always-been-destroying-jobs-and-it-has-always-been/) [Erik Brynjolfsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) [Explore all 75 Erik Brynjolfsson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-brynjolfsson/) ## More Building blocks quotes > [As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-witten/as-for-the-forces-electromagnetism-and-gravity-we-experience-in/) [Edward Witten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-witten/) > [The family is the building block for whatever solidarity there is in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ruckelshaus/the-family-is-the-building-block-for-whatever-solidarity-there-is-in/) [William Ruckelshaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ruckelshaus/) > [“Equality of condition and equality of opportunity must provide the foundation of an interdependent nation with building blocks found in dignity and respect given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-banks-lewis/equality-of-condition-and-equality-of-opportunity-must-provide-the/) [Julie Banks Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-banks-lewis/) > [Put in an honest day's work. It is the building block of a spiritual life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-toshio-sudo/put-in-an-honest-day-s-work-it-is-the-building-block-of-a-spiritual/) [Philip Toshio Sudo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-toshio-sudo/) > [I am proud of my flaws and mistakes, they are the building blocks of my strengths and beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allie-jensen/i-am-proud-of-my-flaws-and-mistakes-they-are-the-building-blocks-of/) [Allie Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allie-jensen/) > [I was surprised that when you get into electoral politics how scientific the analysis was in the electorate. You can identify on a state-by-state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/i-was-surprised-that-when-you-get-into-electoral-politics-how/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [Often the deep valleys of our PRESENT will be UNDERSTOOD only by LOOKING BACK on them from the mountains of our FUTURE experience. Often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/often-the-deep-valleys-of-our-present-will-be-understood-only-by/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [“Leaders create influence with the clays of criticism others throw at them. They don't take offence; they take corrections.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/leaders-create-influence-with-the-clays-of-criticism-others-throw-at/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [There are roles that are terrifying because they're large or you may feel that they're out of your line, but I'm never terrified once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-emerson/there-are-roles-that-are-terrifying-because-they-re-large-or-you-may/) [Michael Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-emerson/) > [“Have I added to their building blocks, shoring them up with strength and their own magnificence? Have I shown them enough color? Did I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-kiros/have-i-added-to-their-building-blocks-shoring-them-up-with-strength/) [Tessa Kiros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-kiros/) > [Plot and scene are still the hardest things for me, though I think they're the building blocks of what makes a story work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chaon/plot-and-scene-are-still-the-hardest-things-for-me-though-i-think/) [Dan Chaon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chaon/) > [Marriage is one of the most important institutions we have. It binds families and society together. It is a building block that promotes stability.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-miller/marriage-is-one-of-the-most-important-institutions-we-have-it-binds/) [Maria Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-miller/) > [Is there anything in the world better than words on the page? Magic signs, the voices of the dead, building blocks to make wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/is-there-anything-in-the-world-better-than-words-on-the-page-magic/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Good teams incorporate teamwork into their culture, creating the building blocks for success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-sundquist/good-teams-incorporate-teamwork-into-their-culture-creating-the/) [Ted Sundquist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-sundquist/) > [We're not just polluting a river and killing a couple of top predator animals; we're eradicating the krill, the necessary algae. We're dismantling the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anohni/we-re-not-just-polluting-a-river-and-killing-a-couple-of-top-predator/) [Anohni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anohni/) [Browse all 228 Building blocks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/building-blocks/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“axis, all of those straight-ish lines would look like the first graph above of Andy’s tribble family—horizontal most of the way, then suddenly close to vertical at the end. And there would really be no way to graph them all together—the numbers involved are just too different. Logarithmic scaling takes care of these issues and allows us to get a clear overall picture of improvement in digital gear. It’s clear that many of the critical building blocks of computing—microchip density, processing speed, storage capacity, energy efficiency, download speed, and so on—have been improving at exponential rates for a long time. To understand the real-world impacts of Moore’s Law, let’s compare the capabilities of computers separated by only a few doubling periods. The ASCI Red, the first product of the U.S. government’s Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative, was the world’s fastest supercomputer when it was introduced in 1996. It cost $55 million to develop and its one hundred cabinets occupied nearly 1,600 square feet of floor space (80 percent of a tennis court) at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.10 Designed for calculation-intensive tasks like simulating nuclear tests, ASCI Red was the first computer to score above one teraflop—one trillion floating point operations* per second—on the standard benchmark test for computer speed. To reach this speed it used eight hundred kilowatts per hour, about as much as eight hundred homes would. 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