This article epitomizes a phenomena that I don't like.
It starts with a simple subject, and a mildly interesting result. Then obfuscates it with an unenlightening and confusing model. Then shows how to do lots of exploratory programming with that model and create apparently surprising results. Then uses it to sell the modeling tool so that you too can come to surprising results about things in a way that does not enlighten.
Here is the simple subject. If jobs are randomly coming in at the same speed that a worker can work, you will get a line. The lines can grow without bound, and the average length of the line is linear in the amount of time this has been going on. Therefore the amount of time spend waiting in line grows quadratically with how long this has been going on.
Add a second worker and the average length of line becomes a fixed, small number. Time waiting is now linear.
Add jobs as fast as both workers can work and voila, lines start growing again!
There are a lot of interesting results in queuing theory. But the stated style of experiment doesn't seem like a good way to figure it out.
It starts with a simple subject, and a mildly interesting result. Then obfuscates it with an unenlightening and confusing model. Then shows how to do lots of exploratory programming with that model and create apparently surprising results. Then uses it to sell the modeling tool so that you too can come to surprising results about things in a way that does not enlighten.
Here is the simple subject. If jobs are randomly coming in at the same speed that a worker can work, you will get a line. The lines can grow without bound, and the average length of the line is linear in the amount of time this has been going on. Therefore the amount of time spend waiting in line grows quadratically with how long this has been going on.
Add a second worker and the average length of line becomes a fixed, small number. Time waiting is now linear.
Add jobs as fast as both workers can work and voila, lines start growing again!
There are a lot of interesting results in queuing theory. But the stated style of experiment doesn't seem like a good way to figure it out.