Agreed. I don't think the point of the article to is to say that this is a never-before-seen type of event, but rather that the landscape is shifting again in the hardware space, as it does maybe once every couple of decades... and that software (compilers specifically) are going to be needed to enable and accelerate the shift of many workloads to ML Accelerators.
lol, that PDF is referencing Spark 1.3 from March 2015 and to say that you need 12 modern Spark machines to break-even with one machine running a non-distributed ML framework is ridiculously wrong. And he wan Spark on EMR, which was pretty unoptimized back then.
I've been using Thinkpads and Macbooks on and off for the last 15 years, and this gen-5 Thinkpad is easily the best laptop I've ever owned.
Some subtle features of this gen-5 laptop that may not be apparent:
- The audio jack creates no hiss. If you used Thinkpads in the past with sensitive headphones, you'd hear a buzzing noise. The Macbooks never did that and this is the first Thinkpad that is a silent audio jack.
- You can spill water on the keyboard and it'll just flow though.
- Seriously best keyboard in class compared to all other ultrabooks. I really don't like the Macbook keyboard design... the depth on keypress is too shallow and it doesn't have the nice bounceback effect of the Thinkpads.
- Battery life is around 6-7 hours, which is long lasting ThinkPad finally.
I think the build quality of Thinkpads is way more functional and utlitarian than Macbooks. I like the matt screen of Thinkpads more. The touchpoint to use your index finger to move the mouse lets you keep your hand in the typing position. Fingerprint sensor is fast and works well.