This is the Golden Age of Electronic Tinkering

Moore’s Law is an observation that the number of transistors on a chip will double every two years. Or put another way, it will cost half as much for a given number of transistors every two years.

In the 3+ decades that I’ve observed the electronics industry in, I continue to be amazed at how Moore’s Law has profound implications for… just about everything. Now, this statement deserves it’s own blog post, but let me stay on point and give an example of how it has made electronic tinkering so much fun.

Case in point

Ordered upconverter from ebay last April because it was so cheap, I wanted to have one handy because I might need one some day.

Also, got LiPo battery, holder and charger from Sparkfun because it might be useful some day.

At the Solid State Depot, I saw Santa hat with RGB LED lights.

I had just happened to have just programmed a hypnotic RGB mood light on a PCB.  Now could I make this all portable?

Bada bing, bada boom – I hooked up the charger and upconverter to the LiPo battery so I could power the RGB LED mood light PCB.  Almost instantly, I had a very useful rechargeable project I could slide into the brim of a Santa hat.

As a final thought, I should mention that Moore’s law is gradually taking over areas beyond computers.  Audio, photography and telephony have already succumbed.  Transportation, and various areas of expertise appear to be next.