The Future of Digital Computers

The Future of Digital Computers

Since the first commercial computer appeared in 1951, their progress has been nearly miraculous. No other human artifact has achieved the exponential improvement in performance, volume, power consumption, cost, reliability, flexibility, applicability, and so on that computers have shown. For how long can we expected this growth to continue in the future? What technologies are likely to take over after Moore’s law has run its course? What computer architectures are going to emerge? What role are quantum computers likely to play? What role can nanotechnology and biology play in our informational future? What are the core applications that will motivate the future direction of information technology? These are some of the key questions that will be addressed in this lecture by the designer of the early Intel and Zilog microprocessors.