Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!east!pyrite!sgolson
From: sgolson@pyrite.East.Sun.COM (Steve Golson)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Moore's Law
Message-ID: <1534@east.East.Sun.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 90 16:53:47 GMT
References: <1461@east.East.Sun.COM> <51751@bu.edu.bu.edu> <1990Feb7.001316.28775@utzoo.uucp>
Sender: news@east.East.Sun.COM
Reply-To: sgolson@pyrite.East.Sun.COM (Steve Golson)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Billerica MA
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In article <1990Feb7.001316.28775@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>There is actually a still more impressive observation, somewhat related:
>the number of transistors on Earth has been doubling every 10 months for
>the last 30 years.  The slowdown in chip-density growth has *not* slowed
>this growth down, last I heard.

Notes from a lecture by Gordon Moore, 19 September 1989, MIT VLSI Seminar:

    "VLSI Industry Trends, Technological and Economic"

The number of transistors produced per year increases 10x every 3 years, or
about 2x every year. Some numbers:

        1968 - 10^9 transistors produced
        1978 - 10^12
        1988 - 10^15

This used to be difficult to count; now all you have to do is count how many
DRAM bits were shipped and multiply by 2.

Another way of looking at today's number: that is 2x10^6 transistors for every
person in the developed world. Have YOU bought your 2M transistors this year?
Your quota for 1995 will be 100M...

Another way of looking at this: in 1990 we will construct more transistors than
have ever existed before this year.

Steve Golson         sgolson@East.sun.com          golson@cup.portal.com
Trilobyte Systems -- 33 Sunset Road -- Carlisle MA 01741 -- 508/369-9669
       (consultant for, but not employed by, Sun Microsystems)
"As the people here grow colder, I turn to my computer..." -- Kate Bush