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Gordon Moore, pioneer of electronics, co-founder of Intel, dies at 94; remembering legacy shaped by Moore's law
Gordon Moore's powerful observation about semiconductor chips, commonly known as Moore's law, became a driving force behind the electronics industry's rapid development. The popular idea is revisited here.
Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel and the man behind Moore's law, which defined the rate of invention in semiconductors, died on Friday aged 94 at his home in Hawaii. Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation both confirmed his death.
“Gordon Moore defined the technology industry through his insight and vision," said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer of the California chipmaker behemoth.
“The world lost a giant in Gordon Moore, who was one of Silicon Valley’s founding fathers and a true visionary who helped pave the way for the technological revolution,” Apple's boss Tim Cook said. "All of us who followed owe him a debt of gratitude."
“His vision inspired so many of us to pursue technology, was an inspiration to me, said,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.
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What is Moore's law?
The earliest version of Moore's law, published in an issue of Electronics magazine in 1965, read that, “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, if not to increase. Over the longer term, the rate of increase is a bit more uncertain, although there is no reason to believe it will not remain nearly constant for at least 10 years.”
If we break it down and try to comprehend it in basic words, it predicted, the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, while the cost per transistor decreases.
What is the significance of Moore's law?
Moore's profound revelation, while not technically a law, fuelled competitiveness and a sense of urgency among manufacturers to keep up with the predicted exponential increase. This has led in a continual stream of advancements in computer processing speed and memory storage, spawning new fields of research and companies such as the internet, e-commerce, social media, and mobile devices.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had lauded Moore's law as being a fabulous thing. "It's really driven the technology industry for the last 30 or 40 years. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates remarked it is a highly potent force that is propelling the sector to incredible advancements.
Limitations of Moore's law
Moore's Law has stood the test for decades, with the number of transistors on a chip increasing at an exponential rate. Yet, once the physical limitations of miniaturisation are approached, some scientists believe that Moore's law will reach to its limitation.
“We at Intel remain inspired by Moore’s Law and intend to pursue it until the periodic table is exhausted,” however, Intel CEO said.
