A panel session-Computer structure-Past, present and future Possibilities for Computer Structures 1971*

What computer structures come into existence in a given epoch depends on the confluence of several factors: The underlying technology-its speed, cost, re-liability, etc. The structures that have actually been conceived. The demand for computer systems (in terms of both economics and user influence). One ignores any of these factors at one's peril. In particular, with technology moving rapidly, a real limitation exists on our ability as designers to discover appropriate structures that exploit the new trade-offs between the various aspects of a computer system. The design of computer structures is not a systematic art. So new is it, in fact, that in a recent book (Bel