Blog posts tagged Technology
Snippets
Theoretical Physicist explains why Moore’s Law will collapse – geek.com, Apr 2012
Standard silicon technology reaching limits due to heat and leakage. Already down to 20 atoms across. Get down to 5 atoms across and its game over, the chip will melt. And once go that small, can’t be certain where the electron is. Quantum theory takes over and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle kicks in. It’s the ultimate limit set by the laws of Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics as to how much computing power can be achieved with silicon. What’s next? Likely to tweak to begin with – 3D chips, parallel processing. But sooner or later even those solutions will be exhausted.
Then have to go post-Silicon.First candidate: molecular transistors. Already exist. Molecules in shape of valve, able to stop/start electricity through the molecule. Problem is mass production and wiring them up. Quantum computing is the ultimate computer but enormous problems. First is coherence. Easily contaminated by outside influences, can’t keep in sync. Unlikely to see before late 21st Century.
Why you can’t trust tech press to teach you about the tech industry – Anil Dash, April 2012
If there were one lesson I’d want to impress upon people who are interested in succeeding in the technology industry, it would be, as I’ve said before, know your shit. Know the discipline you’re in, know the history of those who’ve done your kind of work before, understand the lessons of their efforts, and in general look beyond the things that are making noise right now in order to understand bigger patterns of how technology works, both literally and socially.
Freeman Dyson’s Brain – Stewart Brand, Wired, Feb 2006
On the technology singularity - The technical tricks these people are talking about are only a small part of the human experience. They vastly overestimate their own importance.
On paradigm shifts - The Galileo revolution in astronomy was a prime example. The telescope was a tool that turned everything upside down.
On failure - You can’t possibly get a good technology going without an enormous number of failures. It’s a universal rule.
Against theory - There was an attempt at a theory of airplanes, but it was completely misleading. The Wright brothers, in fact, did much better without it. [Just go ahead and try stuff out] That’s what nature did. And it’s almost always true in technology.
On science vs invention - It’s as great a part of the human adventure to invent things as to understand them. It’s a shame [inventors] don’t get nobel prizes. I would abolish the PhD system. The PhD system is the real root of the evil of academic snobbery. People who have PhDs consider themselves a priesthood, and inventors generally don’t have PhDs.
On being connected – [Ester] said “You don’t come to Harvard to study. You come to Harvard to get to know the right people.” That’s exactly the secret of her success, of course. That’s why she can run these meetings. She knows everybody by sight, and that’s not trivial.
Links
- Technology of Business – BBC series of reports throughout Feb 2012
- Don’t fall in love with your technology – love what it enables you to build…
- Gartner identifies 7 major projects CIOs should consider during next 3 years – Nov 2010
- I have terrible news – funny 404 alternative
- How computers boot up – nice simple reminder by Gustavo Duarte
