Word for the Day Archive

Real Time

This meaning may seem obvious to most, but this word is jargon to many. The phrase comes from the computer industry where it was used to specify computer computation time. Basically it was defined as the time required for a computer to solve a problem, measured from the time data are fed in to the time a solution is received. Seems obvious to us now, but there are and were obviously many other ways to specify computer speed. Nowadays Real Time is used to describe any process that happens "on-line" or "live" without having to stop some other key process (such as a performance or mix) to carry it out. As processing power increases in computers and other related technologies more and more functions can occur in real time.