There are statistics (how many left-handed pinch-hitting short-stops flied out to short center in the fourth inning of game number three in a World Series), and there are statistics (how many people in America died of AIDS before the government started funding research).

We recently stumbled across an organization, Top500, that does a semiannual survey of supercomputers in the world--how many, what kind, how big, how fast, and where located.

For the non-geeks among us, that last category is a doosie of a statistic. The few numbers and their distribution imply volumes about where the world is, and where its probably going.

Take a look at the results for November, 2001, below and you'll see what we mean. The presence of the top countries is predictable. But it's really what's NOT in the numbers that is so revealing:

Except for Saudi Arabia, no Arab-speaking countries.
Except for Singpore, no South Asian countries.
Nothing in Africa.
Not much in South America.

See www.top500.org for more details.

Back to Magellan's Log 46

Magellan's Log front page

Send this page to a friend.