Essential Guide to Computing: The Story of Information Technology, The

The State of the Foundation

Before moving on to talk about some of the key new technologies and the major challenges facing computing, let's quickly do a review of where we are with hardware, software, and networks.

• Hardware Hardware is the great enabler. It is Moore's Law that has made possible the enormous advances in computing that have transformed society in the last few decades. Leaders in the software world point out that much of the improvement in the efficiency of today's computers comes from improved software—more efficient algorithms, more effective structures. This is all true, but the simple fact is that, absent the advances in hardware, this more efficient and more effective software wouldn't have had sufficient machine resources ...