April 19, 1965
Moore: chip density doubles yearly
In Electronics magazine, Gordon Moore writes that transistorA tiny semiconductor switch that can amplify or gate signals — replaced relays and enabled compact computers. counts on integrated circuitA chip miniaturizing many electronic components on one semiconductor — the building block of modern electronics.s double about every year — the observation later called Moore's LawThe observation that transistor counts on chips roughly double every two years — drove expectations for computing growth..
Quote
“The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly a factor of two per year. Certainly over the short term this rate can be expected to continue.”
What it was for
Moore's four-page article was a business forecast, not a law of physics. It became the industry's planning horizon for fifty years — and the punchline every time a node shrinks or a pundit declares Moore's LawThe observation that transistor counts on chips roughly double every two years — drove expectations for computing growth. dead.
People
- Gordon Moore — researcher
Why it's here
This paragraph is one of the most quoted predictions in computing history.
Why it mattered
It set expectations for exponential hardware progress that shaped chip R&D and product roadmaps.
What it solved
SemiconductorA material whose conductivity can be controlled — silicon semiconductors are the basis of almost all computer chips. planners lacked a simple heuristic for how fast silicon could improve.
Media
ImageGordon MooreIntel Free Press, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- Gordon Moore publishes Moore's LawApril 19, 1965