In 1965, a year before the first pocket calculator was invented, a young physicist from Silicon Valley, Gordon Moore, made a daring prediction. He claimed that the number of components squeezed onto a single silicon chip would double about every two years. And double, and double and continue to double. If he had been right, the best silicon chips today would contain an unbelievable 100 million single components. The true figure is more like 2 billion: Moore had underestimated how fast the shrinking trend would take off.
What Happens When Silicon Can Shrink No More?
December 9, 2008