Conversation:

I thought the law was "The number of transistors in a microchip doubles every 18 months." And I don't understand why this is the reason for computer companies' prosperity... Can anyone explain that?

Considering the way that AMD has smashed/tromped/mangled (pick your favorite) Moore's law, which states that the number of transistors would double every 18 months (and therefore the processor speeds would do the same) I believe that Moore's law was a BIG SHAM created by INTEL to make us all believe that they were just SOOOOOOOOO smart and witty.

There's actually another law (I forgot what it's called) which states "the cost of your ideal computer will always remain constant" (ie. the cheaper it gets, the more features will be added on, increasing the price)