Comments on: iPod touch Speed Test: How Much Faster is 50%?

By: PT

PT — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:28:31 +0000

"Percent of" is not the same as "percent faster than."

"Percent faster than" is a kind of "percent change."

50% is a special case where "percent of" and "percent change" are the same number. But note below what 100 percent faster than really means.

Consider the following...

50% of 30 seconds is 15 seconds. -- 10% of 30 seconds is 3 seconds. --

15 seconds is 50% "of" 30 seconds AND 50% "faster than" 30 seconds 3 seconds is 10% "of" 30 seconds BUT 90% "faster than" 30 seconds

The two formulas in question are these:

Percent of = X/Y * 100% percent change = X-Y/Y * 100

3/30 * 100% = 10% (3 is 10% of 30) 3-30/30 * 100% = -90% (3 is 90% less than 30)

Now, if 3 is 90% less than (faster than) 30, what is 100% faster than 30?

It must be zero.

0-30/30 * 100% = -100%

By: derfuhrer

derfuhrer — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:29:21 +0000

if it runs twice as fast wouldnt that be 200% faster

By: xtyp

xtyp — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:37:20 +0000

@27th

Start thinking about learning to count.

By: Ninja

Ninja — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:34:03 +0000

All are wrong!!! It is faster because Apple said it is. Never mind how fast, just go out and spend spend spend.

By: whatabout

whatabout — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:42:58 +0000

So what’s the battery life like in comparison? For example, how many hours of play in a given game/app on the new device vs the old one? Always good to know if the increase in performance has sapped battery life.

By: milkfat

milkfat — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:42:26 +0000

Dickalan: it’s 50% FASTER. You are correct that 50% is .5, but saying “I improved my speed by 50%” does not mean you took twice as long to finish. It means you multiply your old speed by .5 and add that to your old speed. Essentially you’re doing 3 units of work in the amount of time it used to take you to do 2 units of work.

By: Dickalan

Dickalan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:11:35 +0000

You guys need a refresh, what is 50 percent as a decimal .. .5 100 percent is 1 and 200 percent is 2, so if the touch is twice as fast then it is 200 percent faster

By: the_other_me

the_other_me — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:29:32 +0000

nay says the scientist. If you say “faster than” then you’re using the first object as the reference. thus 100% faster would be correct

By: EdibleFetus

EdibleFetus — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:28:54 +0000

TapTap is correct. Its speed not duration.

if 'A' moves at 100mph and 'B' moves at 150mph then B is 50% faster or a 50% increase. To confuse the subject more you could also say that 'B' moves at 150% of the speed of 'A'.

By: TBD

TBD — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:25:01 +0000

Actually, Tap Tap, doing the math, you’re right. For the increase in speed it should be 100%. I concede!

By: TapTap

TapTap — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:17:32 +0000

I disagree, “faster” refers to speed, not to duration, and half the wait means twice the speed.

By: TBD

TBD — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:13:49 +0000

David is right. You have to place the percentage on the newer or faster object. The car analogy stands but the percentage is on the faster car: 100mph vs. 200mph. 50% of 200mph is 100mph, thus a 50% increase. Right???

By: John

John — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:11:56 +0000

100% faster would be virtually down to zero (or instantaneous)…. So 50% faster is correct…

By: TapTap

TapTap — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:04:47 +0000

@kaydot: You are right indeed. 100% faster. I was about to post the same remark whan I saw your comment.

By: David

David — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:03:44 +0000

if it goes from 10 to 5 seconds, it's 50 percent faster because it's 50 percent of 10.

if it goes from 5 to 10 seconds, it's 100 percent slower, because it's 100 percent of 5.

By: xxtoni

xxtoni — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:30:21 +0000

@Chico Dude,did you ever see a site in mobile safari,it looks almost the same as on the desktop… and every other browser is just…

By: kaydot

kaydot — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:27:28 +0000

If it's loading in half the time, then it's "Twice as fast".

I believe that means it is "%100 faster" in normal terms.

It's a weird discussion because we are used to thinking of % faster in the other direction. A car that is traveling 100mph is traveling half as fast as one at 200mph. The car at 200mph is 100% faster than the car at 100mph. A car at 300mph is 200% faster than the car at 100mph.

I think this all makes sense. Please correct!

By: S dog

S dog — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:15:17 +0000

No C that would be 200% faster

By: Chico Fandenzi

Chico Fandenzi — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:14:45 +0000

I’ve just gone to New York Times on the N97, 5 seconds over 3G, now that’s better !

By: Toha

Toha — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:27:50 +0000

So the hardware is impressive,and i reAlly lack some RAM to start Gangstar so 3g will be a good gaming device.even without the camera

By: Raúl

Raúl — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:49:36 +0000

@C good call!!! I was thinking exactly the same thing!

By: J-Red

J-Red — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:57:22 +0000

8th…lol

By: Cool

Cool — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:38:11 +0000

7th……

By: c

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:34:28 +0000

If things load twice as fast wouldn’t that be 100% faster?

By: Al

Al — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:50:51 +0000

No joke Andy. I’ve seen you write first on several stories. Are you just following the Twitter and jumping on it first or what? In short, get a life.

By: XM_JDM

XM_JDM — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:41:02 +0000

@Andy

loser!!!

Seriously? Get a life buddy.

By: Jersagfast

Jersagfast — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:18:12 +0000

I hate imposters..

By: icebike

icebike — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:27:21 +0000

Ever notice how these guys: http://www.iphonehill.com/ just seem to scrape entire stories from TiPb?

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:01:05 +0000

First!!!