In 1965, three years before co-founding Intel Corporation, a physical chemist named Gordon Moore proposed that the number of transistors on a microchip would double every two years or so and the cost of those computers would be reduced by half.

That trend was dubbed “Moore’s Law” and it has held up pretty well over the past 55+ years. Mr. Moore himself is 93 years old, a philanthropist who retired in 2001 from the Intel Board of Directors after a long an storied career in high tech. Last I checked, he lives in Hawaii with his wife Betty. They’ve been married since 1950.)

Moore’s Law Democratizes Technology

Accompanying the geometric expansion of compute power has been corresponding miniaturization of computerized devices to the point where today’s smartphone has over a million times more compute power (11 trillion floating points calculations per second, or FLOPS) than the CDC mainframe 6600 mainframe whose 9 million FLOPS blew Moore’s hair back in 1965. In terms of transistor count growth, Moore’s original premise, the iPhone 12 boasts 11.8 billion transistors compared to 400,000 in the CDC 6600.

Many people have trouble envisioning such large numbers, and with good reason. But picture this: the CDC 6600 cost around $5 million, and it was considered compact at 6 feet 7 inches tall, taking up 18 square feet (6 x 3) of floor space. The mainframe was cooled by a freon-based air conditioning system and its bits and bytes traveled via 100 miles of internal wiring.

Fast-Forward to the Future

You are likely holding over a million times more compute power in your hand right now as you read this article.

More important, the latest-and-greatest smartphones are all but ubiquitous. They cost $1,400 for the best one on the market — and if your credit is good, you can pay installments of $40 per month added your cellular service contract. That’s pretty reasonable for a supercomputer that fits in your pocket and includes a camera to capture professional-quality photos and video, as well as 24/7 access to unlimited collections of music, entertainment, news, research sources, and realistic, interactive games.

Back in 1965, only a government agency or giant corporation could have acquired one of those hot new CDC mainframes. NASA had one, or a similar model, as did the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories. You can be assured that the scientists didn’t waste valuable computer time browsing the Internet for cat videos — especially since the internet hadn’t quite been invented yet.

Indistinguishable from Magic

In 1968, acclaimed scientist and author Arthur C. Clarke asserted that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Many of today’s magical technologies were unimaginable to even the most creative science fiction writers of the 1960s..

Some yield lifesaving miracles. In my grandmother’s time, many serious illnesses were inevitably fatal and discussed in whispers, if at all. Now people with all kinds of dreaded diseases live and thrive, thanks to advanced diagnostic imaging, robot-assisted laser surgeries, and a myriad of treatments that are tailored to the patient’s unique genetic profile.

More amazing devices are everywhere, and we take them for granted. Phones are one obvious example, as are the named, voice-activated devices that can assist and entertain.

Tiny computers embedded in countless everyday products, too. For example, every car manufactured in the past 20+ years includes computer-assisted safety features such as anti-lock brakes, airbags, and seatbelt alarms, while the newest models are programmed to recognize traffic lanes and avoid nearby cars, stationary objects, and pedestrians. And then there’s the miracle of GPS-enabled, turn-by-turn instructions that save those of us with no sense of direction from wandering around aimlessly.

Computers save us endless hours and efforts that can be applied to activities that are more productive, more enjoyable, or both

Technology for All

I can afford the best smartphone on the market. Maybe you can, too. If I don’t have the cash on hand when I’m ready to upgrade, my cell service provider will give me an interest-free payment plan. A billionaire can’t buy anything better — except maybe a fancy designer case, but that won’t improve the functionality or reception. (“Can you. hear me now?”)

People of modest means have access to a vast array of technology-enabled devices and services that free us from the drudgery that filled the days of our grandparents and great-grandparents. The thermostats in our homes and workplaces can be programmed to maintain a constant temperature, and other home appliances do a full day’s chores unassisted. A hundred years ago, you’d have needed to fetch fuel to heat your home and bath water — assuming you had indoor plumbing — and a man driving a horse and cart would bring you a giant block of ice to keep in a reinforced metal chest that kept your food from spoiling.

Technology has an impact on our leisure activities, too, beyond sharing cat videos and playing games on our handheld devices. I took a swim yesterday and my smart watch counted laps and recorded my speed, efficiency, and heart rate, differentiating between breaststroke and freestyle. It counts steps, too — but I could also get a ring that does that, and it’s smaller and less expensive.

My grandmother could remember a time before automobiles, refrigerators, and radios were common in New York City, and years later she watched the moon landing on TV. I remember my college classmates carrying shoeboxes full of punch cards around campus and programming the school computers to print out dot-matrix pictures of Snoopy on a roll of continuous feed paper with holes along both sides.

What will our grandkids remember? .What kind of technology will be ubiquitous in their future, and what will it enable them to achieve?