According to the Information System's textbook, Moore's Law states that in eighteen month's time, the next generation of processors will be twice as fast and cost the same as today's processors. This not only means faster and better technology for consumers, but faster, better and cheaper technology. Moore's law is the key factor for the birth of "the internet of things"--the idea that there are more things connected to the internet than people on the internet--and programs such as OLPC, One Laptop per Child. The business of rapidly changing technology affects the world.
This also ties in with another important phenomenon: price elasticity. Fluctuating prices can either have a great effect or no effect on the quantity sold. Technology is very price elastic--as prices go down, demand goes up, quickening the spread of new technology. In fact, computer chips are so ubiquitous they are now integrated in everything from disposable products like RFID baggage tickets and household products like vacuum cleaners, to weather-reading umbrellas and light up prescription bottles. With Moore's Law, quality exponentially increases and price decreases over time, but how long can it last?
Size, heat, and power are the three forces that drive Moore's Law closer and closer to extinction. You can only go so small, disperse so much heat, and create so much power before its physically impossible to make any more adjustments. The only way to continue progress is to delay the inevitable by finding alternate solutions through efficiency. As we continue to push new technology, it will be interesting to see just what new twists our gadgets will have in the future.
Graphic Source: Flickr user Moe_
This also ties in with another important phenomenon: price elasticity. Fluctuating prices can either have a great effect or no effect on the quantity sold. Technology is very price elastic--as prices go down, demand goes up, quickening the spread of new technology. In fact, computer chips are so ubiquitous they are now integrated in everything from disposable products like RFID baggage tickets and household products like vacuum cleaners, to weather-reading umbrellas and light up prescription bottles. With Moore's Law, quality exponentially increases and price decreases over time, but how long can it last?
Size, heat, and power are the three forces that drive Moore's Law closer and closer to extinction. You can only go so small, disperse so much heat, and create so much power before its physically impossible to make any more adjustments. The only way to continue progress is to delay the inevitable by finding alternate solutions through efficiency. As we continue to push new technology, it will be interesting to see just what new twists our gadgets will have in the future.
Graphic Source: Flickr user Moe_
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