IDF: The Father of Moore's Law Speaks (and It's Really Cool)

The former engineering major in me got a nice surprise this afternoon, when Intel's Gordon Moore (that's right, the guy behind The Law) spoke at the Intel Developer Forum today.

Tech Nation's Moira Gunn hosted an hour-long conversation with Moore, and while I'm not usually one to go all weak-kneed at the sight of tech-industry giants, I have to admit that the father of Moore's Law got me going.

Moore shared his thoughts on more than 40 years in the semiconductor industry, and really helped bring into focus exactly how far we've come. The entire conversation will be available as a webcast shortly, but here are a few of my favorite tidbits:

• On what the world would look like today if the integrated circuits Moore helped develop hadn't taken off, and computers were still built from individual transistors and components: There was an early projection by one of the few companies making transistors that eventually they could get the cost of a transistor down to 68 cents. Well, the IC did take off, and "Today you buy them for 10 picobucks!"
• Intel wasn't close to the first choice as a name for the company. It was initially called Moore-Noyce Electronics and a nice punny little name they used to initially incorporate the firm, but they ran through five or six candidates for a real name before they got Intel cleared as a trademark. Apparently it used to be standard procedure to clear such names in New York and California and assume that that got you the rest of the U.S. Of course, Moore said, "Then we ended up having to buy 'Intel' from a hotel company in the Midwest." Score one for the flyover states.
• On innovation in general: "The most exciting things are usually in the interfaces, and there's lots of exciting stuff going on [now] in the interface between computers and biology."
• Finally, what was Moore excited about for the next decades of technology? "We're going to get to the point where computers have really good lanugage recognition... where you interact with your computer the way you interact with your colleagues." Gordon, I can't wait.