No one denies that computers are speedy critters. For some chores, though, faster is always better.
Computer designers face a constant struggle to find the right balance between speed and generality.
They can build versatile chips that perform many different functions relatively slowly, or they can devise application-specific chips that do only a limited set of tasks but do them much more quickly. The Intel Pentium, for example, was never designed specifically to execute either Microsoft Word or the computer game DOOM, but it can run both. We all desire perfect lives for our children.