The advent of the microprocessor represented the beginning of distributed computing, a paradigm shift that pushed the power of the computer to the desktop. Further advances in miniaturization and electric storage have made laptop computers more powerful than mainframes were in the early 1980s.

George Gilder's Law of the Microcosm

• The power of the chip grows faster than the power of the host processor running a vast system of many terminals.

• The power of the individual commanding a single workstation increases far faster than the power of an overall bureaucratic system.

• The organization of enterprise follows the organization of the chip.

• The power of entrepreneurs using distributed information technology grows far faster than the power of large institutions attempting to bring information to heel.

• Rather than pushing decisions up through the hierarchy, the power of microelectronics pulls them remorselessly down to the individual.

Figure 2 shows the rapid growth in embedded microprocessors.

Figure 2. Embedded versus Computer Microprocessor

Key developments in computing in recent years have been the following:

• processing—There is a continuous migration toward more powerful, smaller, and less expensive processors. Aided by advances in very large scale integration (VLSI) of microprocessors, computer hardware systems have evolved rapidly from the earlier mainframe-based model toward one based on desktop computers, laptops, and PDAs.

• data storage—The trend in data storage is toward greater capacity, easier access, and lower cost. Paralleling the improvements in computer hardware, data storage capabilities are expanding, and their costs are declining. Contemporary systems are designed to accommodate video images of ever-higher resolution, along with rapidly growing amounts of alphanumeric data. CD–ROMs provide much greater storage capacities than earlier modes; their apparent successor, DVD–ROMs, can store a two-hour movie on a disk the same size.

• miniaturization of component technologies—Miniaturization is enabling manufacturers to incorporate computer-on-a-chip components into a wide variety of products that are becoming smarter through the use of fuzzy logic, expert systems, and smart networks.

• display—The dramatic improvements in processing power, storage capacity, and miniaturization can be understood as a continuous process. Improvements in display technology come in quantum leaps. As color replaced black and white television, the next generation of flat-panel technology will replace cathode ray tubes in both computer monitors and TV sets. Key developments in display technology include improvements and cost reductions for active matrix color LCDs that are used in laptop computers. Other technologies still in development include various types of flat-panel displays, including plasma screens and digital high-definition television (HDTV).

• software—Software is becoming easier to use and is more versatile. The widespread popularization of graphical user interface (GUI) systems (such as Macintosh's operating system and Microsoft's Windows® 98) has made computers much more accessible to inexperienced users. The number and variety of application programs continues to grow rapidly, spurred, in part, by the availability of computer-assisted software engineering (CASE) and object-oriented programming tools. Java, an object-oriented programming language, has shown significant promise as a cross-platform programming language ideally suited to the Internet.