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Understanding Moore's Law

Posted by timothy on from the in-the-name-of-the-law dept.

S. Blocher writes "Ars Technica has a great article up, 'Understanding Moore's Law', that I think most geeks should read. The misrepresentation of Moore's Law in the media has always been a real pet peeve of mine, and this article does a great job of looking at the flipside of the 'bigger and faster' thesis to show how the Law isn't really just about doubling computer power."

5 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Moore's ??? by nanojath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems like a good start would be to stop calling it a "law," a term that has some kind of meaning, in a scientific sense. Exactly where that line gets drawn may be a little fuzzy, but I think it's fairly obvious that Moore's observations don't make the grade.

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    It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries

    1. Re:Moore's ??? by forand · · Score: 5, Informative
      Newton's laws are simple, definitive, and we're unlike to find anything that contradicts them--relativity deals with the shape of space, not how objects react to motion, and quantum mechanics, as far as they effect "objects", are just another force.

      Classic Physics are undisputable--they can be observed by anyone with about thirty minutes of free time (or less). Relativity, on the other hand, has a rather smaller set of supporting data, and thus calling it a "law" isn't quite accurate just yet.
      I beg to differ with you: GENERAL Relativity deals with the curvature of spacetime, SPECIAL relativity is base on very few postulates the main of which is that the speed of light is constant in all frames. This has very real and observable consequences, like the fact that you cannot transmit information faster than the speed of light, this affects your everyday life.

      Classical Physics is undisputed within a certain range of energies/time difference, but you cannot explain light causing a measurable pressure with newtons laws nor can you explain doppler shifts exactly.
  2. In typical /. fashion by BoomerSooner · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll comment w/o reading the article.

    Roger Moore's Law is: you get more chicks when you are James Bond than when you're Roger Moore. That's it right?

  3. The 'M' laws by Shamashmuddamiq · · Score: 5, Funny


    Microsoft's law: what you get when you put Moore's law and Murphy's law together.

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    ...just my 2 gil.
  4. That's not right.... by cybermace5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Moore's Law is so perennially protean because its putative formulator never quite gave it a precise formulation.

    I tried to read further, but started twitching uncontrollably. How about Mace's Law: "The skill of tech writers halves, and their pride doubles, every 12 months."

    I always gave about the same credence to both Moore's Law and Murphy's Law.

    Ok, I finished the article. I learned some history, saw some graphs, and care not one bit more about Moore and his infernal Law.

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