Digital technology in everything
What triggered the explosion of natural organisms and why it took so long is hard to say, but in computing the driver of change is very simple: the amount of computing we can have at a very low cost and in a very small package. We are used to thinking about computing power doubling every eighteen months or so, but the more significant shift is that computing density can double at the same rate. Invisibly, behind the scenes, computing has been getting embedded into everyday things. Rough calculations of the computing power that has been shipped by the chip makers suggest that the things we call 'computers' represent no more than 1 % of the computing that is going on around us. The other 99% is hard at work controlling cars, central heating, doors, kiosks, telecommunications and utility networks and most of the things that we rely on. What is happening now is that the relentless progress in both power and density is combining with the third big factor - connectivity.