Moore’s Law

Moore’s Law was developed by Gordon Moore in 1965. Moore suggested that technology doubles every year. Historically technology has doubled every 18 months . This trend continues today.
The first bread toaster was made in 1893 by a heating company in Britain called Crompton and Company. The toaster was a plate of uncovered iron wires. People flipped the bread to toast both sides. The first toaster was unsafe because of the exposed hot metal and required a person to monitor the toasting of the bread.
In 1909 the first officially patented toaster in the U.S. was made. It was patented by GE and was created by a Frank Shailor. At least two other toasters were invented before 1909, but neither one was recognized by the general public.
Until 1919 all toasters were manually operated. Charles Strite patented the first automatic toaster. It had a timer that shut down the heat and popped the toasted bread up. This was the first toaster that toasted both sides of the bread at once. Toasters have come a long way since then. Many toasters can toast multiple pieces of bread, tell time, and even cook eggs. Toasters can cook pieces of bread to different crunchiness depending on the settings pre-programmed by the breakfaster.
Toasters have definitely progressed, though I don’t think they have necessarily progressed at the speed of Moore’s Law. I think Moore’s Law does not apply to one particular technological product, like a toaster, an i-pod, a T.V., or a computer, but that Moore’s Law applies to technology in general. All the apparatuses that we use are grouped together and the technological group is then analyzed under Moore’s Law. So technology in general is doubling every 18 months, but that does not mean that every gadget we use is improving by double every 18 months.
Because of Moore’s Law many people wait to buy cars, i-pods and computers until a new and improved version comes out. People wait to buy a new lens for their camera until the lens is cheaper and has image stabilization. Once the lens they want comes out a better one is already in the making. Moore’s Law is good for companies because people always want better products. Instead of just buying a car when their old one breaks down people buy a newer version of their car and get rid of their old car. Companies profit from coming out with multiple new versions of a product with slightly better services every time. People also profit from better products, but they would be better off if they waited long periods of time before upgrading their technology.

1 http://havemacwillblog.com/2007/11/15/moores-law-what-impact-does-it-have/
2http://www.life123.com/home-garden/home-appliances/inventions/who-invented-the-toaster.shtml