Everyone's niche in the industry taints their perspective; we’re clearly on opposite ends of this spectrum. Over the past 10 years, I have seen a shift from Unix/Linux x86 servers, to beowulf clusters, to GPU based clusters, and most recently a project with Intel Phi boards.
A common thread throughout this progression has been the lack of proper software and tools to parallelize the workload. The team is constantly on the lookout for new tools and is thrilled about upcoming technologies like Parallella.
In your field, where cheap CPU cycles is paramount, you may not see it. But for our team running the sims, your "good old single threaded" performance has been meaningless for years.
A common thread throughout this progression has been the lack of proper software and tools to parallelize the workload. The team is constantly on the lookout for new tools and is thrilled about upcoming technologies like Parallella.
In your field, where cheap CPU cycles is paramount, you may not see it. But for our team running the sims, your "good old single threaded" performance has been meaningless for years.