Personal Supercomputers?

You've got to love marketing trends in the world of high-performance computing. Unless, of course, you're stuck sifting through the hype to discern the best compute configuration for your lab or institute. Sometimes these trends become particularly slippery when categories of technology are stretched to the point where their very description seems to be at best a misnomer or, at worst, nonsensical. Many a brow has furrowed over a recent trend that has picked up considerable momentum: "desk side" or "personal" supercomputing.