Discussions

Here is a comparison of how far technology has come.  
 
People who know about Moore's law already know what this exponential growth has brought and (to an extent) what it will bring in the future. Moore's law does have its physical limits for transistor density and many suggest it will run its course by 2020 where transistors will no longer be able to shrink any further. After this we will experience a paradigm shift.  
 
Ten years seems like just last year to me, 9/11(albeit, 2001), Y2K, Tech Bubble. But look how far we've come. We have much much more further to go.  
 
The comparison:  
 
2000  
iMac  
Operating System - Mac OS 9.0.4  
Processor - 500 MHz PowerPC G3 CPU, 128MB Memory  
Graphics - ATI Rage 128 Pro, 8MB of memory (8 million triangles)  
Screen - 786K pixels  
Data Transfer Speeds - 1.3-12.5 MB/s (DVD-ROM-1/100 Ethernet)  
Storage - 30GB Hard Drive  
Dimensions - 15.0 x 15.0 x 17.1 inches  
Weight - 34.7 pounds  
 
2010  
iPhone 4  
Operating System - iOS 4.0  
Processor - 1 Ghz ARM A4 CPU, 512MB Memory  
Graphics - PowerVR SGX 535, uses system memory (28 million triangles)  
Screen - 614K pixels  
Data Transfer Speeds - .04-20MB/s (3G-WiFi)  
Storage - 32GB Flash Drive  
Dimensions - 4.5 x 2.31 x .31 inches  
Weight - 4.8 ounces (137 grams)  
 
 
The important thing to note here is a size comparison of these devices. One is the weight of a 4 year old boy. The other, well....its a phone, a very light object that you carry around in your pocket without the slightest thought that its even there: and yet objectively is far superior.  
 
So what will 2020 bring?  
 
Edited by RyanB11, 2010-07-23 09:33:04