The 1982 George Forsythe Memorial Lectures
by Jerome H. Saltzer
Stanford University Computer Science Department

Lecture #1, Monday, January 25, 1982, at 7:30 p.m., in Jordan 040

Intended audience:  General scientific audience with computer interest.

Title:  TECHNOLOGY, BUREAUCRACY AVOIDANCE, AND DISTRIBUTED COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Abstract:  An obvious force behind "distributed" computer systems is the
plummeting cost of processor logic and memory, driven by advances in integrated
circuit technology. A less obvious force is bureaucracy avoidance, in reaction
to experience with centrally administered multi-user computer systems.
Understanding the interactions between technology and bureaucracy avoidance
allows one to predict the direction that computer system architecture will
probably take over the next decade, and to guess which of the currently emerging
approaches to distributed computing are likely to survive.