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The Atom, The Bit And The Gene: Silicon Valley’s Innovator’s Dilemma
Over the past several decades, innovation has become largely synonymous with digital technology. When the topic of innovation comes up, somebody points to a company like Apple, Google or Facebook rather than, say, a car company, a hotel or a restaurant. Management gurus wax poetically about the “Silicon Valley way.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean that other industries haven’t been innovative. In fact, there are no shortage of excellent examples of innovation in cars, hotels, restaurants and many other things. Still, the fact remains that for most of recent memory digital technology has moved further and faster than anything else.
This has been largely due to Moore’s Law, our ability to consistently double the number of transistors we’re able to cram onto a silicon wafer. Now, however, Moore’s Law is ending and we’re entering a new era of innovation. Our future will not be written in ones and zeros, but will be determined by our ability to use information to shape the physical world.
The Atom
The concept of the atom has been around at least since the time of the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus. Yet it didn’t take on any real significance until the early 20th century. In fact, the paper Albert Einstein used for his dissertation helped to…
