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The computing technology stack is built upon a finite resource which we cannot fully recycle - that's a problem for future generations to solve but in the meantime can I interest you in the latest model of a device you already have?
AMD have been pushing the envelope with their architecture in the past few years, 14nm to 7nm was a big jump. Intel have been talking about 7nm since 2016 and a chip has yet to manufactured, the most recent announcement says it's scheduled for 2023. In the same time frame, AMD will have passed through 7nm to 5nm architecture. If you want faster processors you have to be prepared to accept that you will require faster and more stable RAM so you can't really complain about the next generation of CPUs migrating to DDR5.
We don't need 4K screens on computers, TVs, tablets or phones. The human eye can be fooled just as easily with a lower definition resolution. It's just another example of something that as a civilization we have excelled at - selling ourselves on ideas and shit that we really don't need.
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There is more technology in a single modern day smart phone than NASA had access to for the Apollo Program missions (1968-1973). That was the greatest technological feat of the 20th century and possibly in the modern age of mankind. 50 years later we don't live on the moon or have flying cars, nor do we really need them.
In the first years of the 21st century (2001-2003), the Human Genome Program was completed. Scientists succeeded in mapping the entire DNA instruction set for creating a human. The cost of sequencing the DNA of an individual has fallen dramatically from $95M in 2001 to $455 in 2021. This had made the technology more accessible to a wider number of scientists and will benefit the future population. We don't yet have cures for the major diseases that afflict our species but we're beginning to see organs transplanted from genetically modified animals into humans.
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In 2008, Bitcoin was born and the sink hole that is blockchain crypto technologies was unleashed on the planet. Global warming/Climate change is a reality, reducing dependency on fossil fuels is seen as one way to reduce the impending toll on the global environment and here we have an expanding technology that devours energy. In terms of human endeavor, adopting Bitcoin was an increasingly likely environmental disaster solution to another man made problem. In 2018 it was calculated that Bitcoin was responsible 0.06% of global CO2 emissions at the time. In 2020, it accounted for around 0.5% of global energy consumption. There are 193 members of the United Nations, 100% / 193 = 0.518%. It goes without saying that not every country consumes an equal share of global energy (China is responsible for 24% of global energy consumption). If China alone is taken out of the energy consumption pie, the average percentage of global energy consumption amongst the other UN member nations is 0.395%. Unless a large portion of Bitcoin's energy consumption takes place in China it's annual energy consumption exceeds that of the average nation. In fact Bitcoin's energy consumption in 2020 exceeded that of Sweden and New Zealand combined.
At present computer data centres consume 4% of global energy (in 2014 it was 1%). In Ireland data centres consumed 11% of all metered electricity in 2020, that requirement has been predicted to increase to 25% by 2030 - that's absolutely crazy! This growing additional energy need is fueled by the 'new oil' that is the field of Data Science.
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Something has to give at some point in the near future because the increasing appetite for energy is not sustainable if governments are actually serious about "net zero by 2050".