Computing Trend

The computing trend that will change everything

April 10, 2012

The electrical efficiency of computing (the number of computations that can be completed per kilowatt-hour of electricity used) has doubled every year and a half since the dawn of the computer age.

The power needed to perform a task requiring a fixed number of computations will continue to fall by half every 1.5 years (or a factor of 100 every decade). As a result, even smaller and less power-intensive computing devices will proliferate, paving the way for new mobile computing and communications applications that vastly increase our ability to collect and use data in real time.

The number of computations computers can carry out using the same amount of energy has been increasing by a factor of two every 1.5 years (credit: Jonathan Koomey)

Also see: How to cool electronic devices more efficiently

 [ Technology Review ]