Comment by rntksi

7 years ago

Presumably to optimise this website would mean different things? For example would it be better to read from the flash drive or cache things in RAM power-output-wise? I think that's a question we never ask. We would for example consider a memcache versus none for performance reasons but probably never for power output reasons.

Very interesting!

11 comments

rntksi

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jnty  7 years ago

Have we not been optimising for power usage for the last ten years at least? It's really important for tablets, phones and laptops.

  • benj111  7 years ago

    No not really, websites have been using more and more video, images, JavaScript.

    I'm sure the average website of 10/20 years ago uses less resources, and by extension power than the current average website.

    I suppose you could argue we do more with each unit of power, I would contend most of that has been wasted on non core frivolities that aren't worth the cost though.

  • kungtotte  7 years ago

    Devices have all made great advances in improving battery life, both by advancing battery technology and by having on the fly adjustments of things like screen brightness.

    Content providers however haven't really done much. Do you think app and web developers give much thought to battery life when they make their products? If they ever optimize it's for reasons such as responsiveness (which drives customers away if it's poor), and battery life is at best a sideeffect.

  • falcolas  7 years ago

    The hardware side of things, yes. The software side of things (outside the OS), not so much.

    • dahfizz  7 years ago

      I would argue that's way outside the scope of software development.

      First, you can't really know how various things are implemented in hardware. Something that saves power on one machine will increase power usage on another. This would be a big step backwards in terms of abstraction.

      Second, and more important IMO, is that it's just not our job. Hardware people should make efficient hardware, and software people should make efficient software. The meaning of efficient depends on the context.

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