From:	Marc A Renouf <jormung@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject:	Re: Some question on memory.
Date:	Tue, 12 Sep 1995 00:55:51 -0400

On Mon, 11 Sep 1995, Dustin Wood wrote:

> My point lies in the fact that both are from external sources.

But they're not. The way I view Softlink System Load Delay is as
the time it takes the softlink system to sift through the garbage and load
the appropriate information from the chip into the skillwire system's RAM

> Why could information flow into your head faster from the matrix than
> from a chip plugged into your skull?

That's the point. It doesn't Skillsoft information is already
loaded and is ready on demand. Data from the Matrix via a datajack has
to be processed (as an I/O function, coding, decoding, et cetera) and
thus will be slower. Just how much slower is the only question.

> This is saying that the character doesn't have
> headware memory, in which case we'll say he has a cranial cyberdeck.

Why would you have a cranial cyberdeck without headware memory?
What would be the point?

> Even a fully internal system, using headware memory as storage memory,
> uses a load speed before he can run a utility.
> Even though he must force the matrix to execute his utility (using the
> systems security code) the program is still running on his deck.

Exactly. The program is running on *his* deck. so when he needs
to laod a program from storage to active memory, he is stuck with the
System Load Delay (SLD). Note that this is similar to but not the same
as the Softlink System Load Delay (SSLD). In either case, however, it
merely reflects the time it takes to take the program and get it ready to
run.
It think what you're getting hung up on is the datajack. All the
datajack is for is to let info flow back and forth. If you make the
assumption that even the slowest datajacks are capable of carrying
information fast enough for a simsense feed, then the only thing your
datajack limits is how fast you can upload or download raw data to the
Matrix. In this case, it is directly analogous to a modem. The faster
the modem, the more info you can grab in the same amount of time. It
doesn't affect how fast your programs run at all.
Am I making any sense?

Marc