50 Years of Moore’s Law

I remember reading about Moore’s Law more than 25 years ago and wondering how long it could continue. As it turns out – a very long time.

Gordon E MooreGordon E. Moore co-founded Intel and in 1965 he wrote an article predicting that the number of components (transistors, resistors, diodes or capacitors) in a dense integrated circuit would continue to grow exponentially. This observation became known as “Moore’s Law”.

I remember the comparison of the development of the first Intel integrated circuit, the 4004 and car development while studying Electronic Engineering at Uni in the 90s. Now that comparison is massively further apart.

If cars had developed at the same rate as the integrated circuit, today they would go almost 480,000Km/h, would use only 0.000117607 litres per 100km and cost around 5 cents to buy.

So the next time you are looking for some new computer hardware, just take a moment to consider just how good that technology is.

Find out more about Moore’s Law at Intel.

Posted in Intel.