> C defines a virtual machine consisting of a single, contiguous block of memory with consecutive addresses, and a single core processor that reads and executes a single instruction at a time. This is not true of today's processors, thanks to multicores, multiple pipelines, and layers of cache.

This type of machine has become so ubiquitous that people have begun to forget that once upon a time, other types of machines also existed. (Think of the LISP Machine)