Distributed Systems: Introduction

Distributed Systems Principles and Paradigm
by Andrew S. Tanenbaum

Introduction:

From a machine that cost 10 million dollars and executed 1 instruction per second,
we have come to machines that cost 1000 dollars and are able to execute 1 billion instructions per second, a price/performance gain of 10^13.

If cars had improve at this rate in the same time period, a Rolls Royce would now cost 1 dollar and get a billion miles per gallon.

(Unfortunately, it would probably also have a 200-page manual telling hot to open the door.)