Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/06/25

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Subject: Re: [Leica] R8/R9 Digital Back announced
From: Martin Howard <mvhoward@mac.com>
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 12:25:48 -0700

Austin objected:

> I'd like to put THAT in perspective.  The purported "Moore's Law" is 
> NOT a
> law at all.

The phenomenon is known as "Moore's Law", regardless of whether you 
like the name or not.  The fact that it may not be a law in either the 
legal, mathematical, or physical sense is moot.  If I were to write 
"Moore's Prediction" or "Moore's Conjecture", then no one would have 
the faintest clue what I was talking about.  Sometimes, being 
understood is more important than being absolutely correct.  Besides, 
what does "absolutely correct" mean in any case?

As for its validity, the observation that computing power (the number 
of transistors per unit chip area) doubles every 18 months has pretty 
much held true since 1970 (initially it was every year from 1964/1965). 
  As such, it is an empirical law to the same extent that Fitt's Law is. 
  It's called a "law" because it establishes a lawful relationship 
between observable variables and an outcome that is borne out by 
empirical verification.

As far as I can see, your only valid point of contention might be that 
it is irrelevant to the issue of a digital back for the R8/R9 to be 
released in 16 months time, but interestingly enough, you didn't make 
*that* objection.

M.

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Replies: Reply from "Jim McIntyre" <mcintyre@ca.inter.net> (Re: [Leica] R8/R9 Digital Back announced)