Tech Thoughts

I have just started reading Nicholas Carr’s book, The Big Switch. The author points out an interesting fact that technology and economics go hand in hand. With economies of scale the cost of a certain technology is cheaper.

I noticed today that the reverse is also true. Technology that is now considered to be antiquated is now more costly than ever before. How do I know? I came across a new LP record selling for almost Rs. 2000 (that’s almost 44 USD). A music CD these days is sold at around Rs. 300 to Rs 400. Better tech at what seems to be a parsley sum me thinks.

So how does this relate to Moore’s law? The law for those of you who have never heard of it states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years. Basically every two years you see a quantum leap in computing power. So by Moore’s law more and more gadgets are becoming obsolete faster and by the corollary I’ve derived from Nicholas Carr’s book, this gets more and more expensive as the days go by.

Maybe these are the twisted forces at work that ensure you always upgrade. A system that forces mankind to adopt new technology ensuring that obsolete technology is junked and we take bold steps forward into the future.