To: stomper who wrote (19823 ) 3/11/2000 7:36:00 PM From: spiral3 Respond to
not all nodes need to have neuron chips. all neuron chips would HAVE to have a node. appliance, thermostat, light switch, electric receptacle, lamp, range, gate opener, electric door lock, door bell, whatever, ) on the network is called a node. Assuming that a more powerful chip is not being used, which currently seems to be the case in the vast majority of all applications, the node will contain a Neuron Chip. Does this not mean that we are still talking about trillions of nodes in the future, re Dr. Oshman's comments of the trillion(s) of neuron chips he expects to be installed? In close, uw's extrapolations could be correct, just mislabelled? No one foresaw that a project started to share scarce computing resources among researchers would lead to e-mail, e-commerce, and the World Wide Web. But, as Metcalfe's law predicted, increased connectivity created an environment in which previously inconceivable and impossible applications suddenly became both obvious and possible. Connectivity drives the power of networks," commented Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet inventor, 3Com founder, and InfoWorld columnist. "It's come to be called Metcalfe's Law, and it says that networks grow in value with the square of the number of connected nodes. Think of the value explosion when tens of billions of everyday devices join the Internet. echelon.com
