Perpetual Digital Revolution

Bill Gates Essay

People often ask me if we're nearing the end of the digital revolution -- if technology progress is at a point of diminishing returns and the personal computer has reached the apex of its development.

I believe the opposite is true. In many ways, the incredible advances of the past few decades have really just laid the foundation for much more profound change. In the years to come, hardware will continue to improve, often in dramatic and surprising ways. Software will continue to advance as we develop new approaches to take advantage of multicore processors, expanded data storage and more pervasive broadband access. Together, hardware and software will be the catalyst for advances during the next 10 years that will far exceed the changes of the last 30 years.

Soon computing and software will be available everywhere -- throughout the office and the home; in your car; and in stores, restaurants and public spaces. We'll access computing capabilities on a wide range of devices, often taking advantage of nearby displays and projection surfaces. Meanwhile, the proliferation of massive data centers and the increasing ubiquity of broadband networks will create a fabric of information and computing capabilities that extends seamlessly across our lives at work and at home, from any location.

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