Tomorrow’s Computers: More Moore?

A single iPhone today has more power than the NASA computer that took astronauts to the moon. A smartwatch has more memory than computers that used to fill an entire room. So how did we get here? In 1965, Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor cofounder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of electronic components squeezed onto an integrated circuit will double each year. This bold observation, now widely known as Moore’s Law, has not only resulted in smaller, faster, and cheaper computer chips, but has also enabled the creation of life-changing technologies, from smartphones to spreadsheets. When Moore made his prediction, there were about 30 components on a chip and transistors cost about $8 .Today, billions of transistors fit on a chip the size of your fingernail and transistors cost a mere billionth of a penny.

However, computing companies have already reported that the rate of acceleration Moore predicted is slowing. In a 2015 interview with IEEE Spectrum, Moore himself predicted that we are approaching the limits of his observation. Could Moore’s Law truly come to an end and what could this mean for the future of technological innovation?

Join us as Center for Software History Director David C. Brock leads a conversation with Intel Senior Fellow and Director of Process Architecture and Integration Mark Bohr and Director of Microsystems Technology Office at DARPA William Chappell about the status of Moore’s Law, the limits of silicon, and the emerging alternative technologies that will shape the future of computing.