< jargon > A situation wherein the number of people trying to use a computer simultaneously has reached the point where no one can get enough cycles because they are spread too thin and the system has probably begun to thrash .
This scenario is an inevitable result of Parkinson's Law applied to time-sharing . Usually the only solution is to buy more computer. Happily, this has rapidly become easier since the mid-1980s, so much so that the very term "cycle crunch" now has a faintly archaic flavour; most hackers now use workstations or personal computers as opposed to traditional time-sharing systems.
[ Jargon File ]
(1994-11-29)