Moore's Law

Summary

Computers have become incredibly powerful due to the exponential increase in the number of transistors on integrated circuits, as predicted by Moore's Law. From 1965 to 2013, this number doubled approximately every two years, allowing for faster and more efficient chips. Even with a slight slowdown, the growth has been remarkable, enabling devices like Apple's A8X chip in 2014 to match the power of a 1995 supercomputer, showcasing how advanced technology has become accessible in everyday consumer electronics.

Takeaways

• 💻 **Core Components**: Computers are built from integrated circuits, which are composed of numerous transistors and conducting lines.
• 🔌 **Binary Nature**: Transistors allow for the manipulation of electric current, enabling binary encoding and calculations.
• 📈 **Moore's Law**: In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors on integrated circuits would double approximately every 2 years.
• 🏢 **Intel's Growth**: Moore's conviction in his prediction led to the co-founding of Intel, which now has nearly 100,000 employees and over $50 billion in annual revenue.
• 📊 **Accurate Prediction**: Despite being a forecast, Moore's Law has been remarkably accurate from 1965 to 2013, with a slight deceleration to every 3 years thereafter.
• 🚀 **Exponential Growth**: By 2015, we were able to fit around 30 million times more transistors on integrated circuits than in 1965.
• 📊 **Nonlinear Scaling**: The exponential development of transistor density is best represented using nonlinear graph scaling.
• 🏎️ **Increased Speed**: Doubling transistor density makes chips faster, influenced by factors like clock speed, heat emission, and size.
• 📱 **Consumer Power**: In 2014, Apple's A8x chip, with around 3 billion transistors, matched the power of the fastest supercomputer from 1995, exemplifying the consumerization of supercomputing power.
• 🎮 **Everyday Usage**: Today, such powerful chips are commonly found in devices like iPads, used for everyday tasks like web browsing and gaming.

Q & A

What are the fundamental components of a computer?

Computers are fundamentally built out of chips or integrated circuits, which in turn are constructed from a vast number of transistors and extremely small conducting lines for electric current.

How do transistors contribute to the functioning of a computer?

Transistors allow for the manipulation of electric current, enabling it to flow through specific conducting lines or not, which provides the binary nature necessary for encoding information and performing calculations.

What is Moore's Law and who is it named after?

Moore's Law is the observation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. It is named after Gordon Moore, who made this forecast in 1965.

How did Moore's Law impact the growth of Intel?

Gordon Moore was so convinced of his forecast that he co-founded Intel, which has now grown to nearly 100,000 employees and over $50 billion in annual revenue, largely due to the trend predicted by Moore's Law.

Has Moore's Law always been accurate?

Moore's Law has been remarkably accurate from 1965 to 2013. After that, it slowed down slightly, with the doubling of transistors on integrated circuits occurring every three years instead of every two.

What was the approximate increase in transistors on integrated circuits from 1965 to 2015?

By 2015, we were able to fit around 30 million times more transistors on integrated circuits than in 1965.

How does the doubling of transistor density affect the speed of a chip?

The doubling of transistor density on chips makes them faster, but the extent of the speed increase is determined by various factors such as the clock speed of the chip, the heat emitted by the processor, and the size it occupies.

What was the approximate number of transistors in Apple's A8X processor in 2014?

Apple's A8X processor in 2014 had around 3 billion transistors.

How did the development of chips over 20 years compare to the power of a supercomputer in 1995?

It took about 20 years of exponential chip development to package the power of a specialized scientific supercomputer into a consumer device, such as Apple's A8X processor in 2014, which was about as powerful as the fastest supercomputer in 1995.

What is an example of how powerful chips are now being used in consumer devices?

Extremely powerful chips, once only found in specialized scientific supercomputers, are now being used in consumer devices like iPads for everyday tasks such as browsing the web or playing games.

Why is nonlinear scaling necessary to show exponential development on a graph?

Nonlinear scaling is necessary to show exponential development on a graph because linear scales cannot accurately represent the rapid and significant increases in the number of transistors over time.