Is “Moore” Always Better? The Impact of Moore’s Law

Technology is taking over the world. There seems to be a new product or invention everywhere you look and it is impossible to keep up with all of them. There is now even an idea that technology will soon surpass the capabilities of human intelligence. Ken Jennings, a Jeopardy contestant that won fifty-four days in a row, proved to be no match when he competed against Watson, a computer created by IBM, demonstrating the extremely complex abilities of a computers brain. Technology and computer processing has revolutionized the world and even with the progress that has already been made, we haven’t seen anything yet.

Moore’s Law, named after Gordon Moore, a co-founder of Intel, encompasses the idea that every eighteen months, microprocessor performance per dollar doubles. Fundamentally, the brains of a computer will be twice as fast and smart every year and half, but will still cost the same as the current price.

advancing rates of technology

Not only are they faster and cheaper, they are smaller and smarter. To put this change into perspective, just fifty years ago, the most advanced technologies were computers the size of a large room only affordable to governments. Today, micro processing devices are available to anyone in the form of phones, cameras, personal computers, and pacemakers. With this increase in technological capability and affordability, what else is possible? Will this progress ever reach an end?

The technological evolution has led to completely new industries and the development of current industries that would have previously been unimaginable. For example, Apple, originally just a computer company, developed the iPod: the first handheld music player of its kind. The creation of the iPod has since led to other technological innovations such as the iPhone and iTunes. Since its inception, iTunes has worked its way to being the top music retailer despite never selling physical CD. And Apple is not the only company benefitting from this advancement though. is the largest book retailer in North America after releasing its Kindle, a personal reader with the ability to purchase books online directly to the device. The limits of online consumption are endless, as companies such as FreshDirect will even deliver your groceries right to your doorstep.

Technology isn’t only benefitting consumer products but has also been implemented to increase the efficiency of airline and finance companies. Supercomputers, such as IBM’s Deep Blue, are among the fastest computers in the world. United Airlines completely restructured its scheduling system based on Deep Blue’s ability to analyze and determine the most efficient flight path combinations.

But is “Moore” always better? As technological innovation continues, old devices and processors become outdated resulting in a significant amount of electronic waste, referred to as ‘e-waste’. Personal computers only really have the expected lifetime of about five years while for cell phones, its often only about two years. The waste produced by the outdated technologies often ends up in China, South Asia, or certain parts of Africa. The e-waste is usually burned resulting in clouds of smoke very toxic to the inhabitants of these areas. With all of the harmful consequences of e-waste, technology and electronic companies should be responsible for researching and developing new ways to recycle and dispose of the outdated technologies.

Although technology provides an endless list of positives, there remains to be things to criticize. Aside from the e-waste, many people are losing jobs and being replaced by computers and other automated systems. Despite criticisms about the impact of technology on the environment and workforce, it is clear that technology is here to stay and the end of technological progress is nowhere in sight.

If you want to see IBM’s Watson on Jeopardy, watch this video:


4 thoughts on “Is “Moore” Always Better? The Impact of Moore’s Law

  1. New term learned. “e-waste”:D. I know there are some big companies such as apple who have their own recycling program, which you can recycle your unwanted product for gift card. And according to the website, its very efficient”When you recycle with Apple, your used equipment is disassembled, and key components that can be reused are removed. Glass and metal can be reprocessed for use in new products. A majority of the plastics can be pelletized into a raw secondary material. With materials reprocessing and component reuse, Apple often achieves a 90 percent recovery rate by weight of the original product.” I think the government should encourage more companies to have their own recycling program, it will lessen the e-waste problem.

  2. This is a good post about both the pros and cons of technology. I like that you point out the importance of technology, and how it is getting faster, smarter, and cheaper. I also think you bring up a very important negative consequence of technology that is not talked about often. The electronic waste often ends up in developing countries, and this brings up an ethical problem that we face when dealing with technology. My only suggestion would be to add more pictures/videos/multimedia in your post. Otherwise, I enjoyed reading this!

  3. Great Jeopardy reference, I hope Ken replaces Alex in 3 years once he retires. You note a great point that the faster technology moves, the faster it becomes obsolete. It seems like Moore’s law should even be updated to note a shorter timeframe. I really like how you thought outside of the box by mentioning the technological waste. Amazingly technology is made up of some of the worst stuff to throw back into the environment.

  4. Interesting take on Moore’s Law. I think with the increasing use of automated systems and computers to replace some jobs, many other jobs open up with that. The problem is the lack of education and those in the labor force with the proper credentials for these new IT jobs and other system supporting jobs. The e-waste portion is interesting, and I was wondering whether or not there were any regulations placed on these different companies on how they dispose of their waste. I am sure there are, I just wonder what the process of transporting the waste from the consumers desk to a burning pile in Africa.

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