Len Bullard wrote:
> My question was more along the lines of what I asked the other Mike (the one
> with the accent): what are these appliances doing that can't be done in
> software or is the hardware more effective and why?
Just as there are some people who believe that a binary solution is
always faster than text just because it is binary, so too are there
those who believe that a hardware solution is always faster than
software just because it is hardware.
I've seen enough counterexamples to both to be deeply skeptical of such
claims, especially when someone starts touting either the binary-ness or
hardware-ness of their solution as an advantage in itself.
Indeed these beliefs may not be unrelated. Both binary and hardware
solutions have the common distinction of being more opaque than their
competitors. Perhaps it is their very opaqueness that makes them attractive.
--
Elliotte Rusty Harold
Java I/O 2nd Edition Just Published!
http://www.cafeaulait.org/books/javaio2/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0596527500/ref=nosim/cafeaulaitA/
