Good (tech) times ahead (17 May, 2022)

[aardvark_admin]

This column is archived at: https://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2022/0517.shtml

Hold onto your hats folk...I predict we're about to see technology leap a head over the next 5-10 years.

All that ground lost during the pandemic will be made up and the pace of innovation and production will increase remarkably.

Cheaper silicion, more availability, lower-cost and longer-lasting EV batteries etc, etc.

Although there are some negatives around, if you're a tech-head I think we're in for quite a few years of good-times!

What do you think?

[hagfish]

Crypto is finally crashing (again!). Graphics cards are as cheap on TradeMe as they were in 2018! I suppose those GTX-10xx series cards are four years older, now... We are also getting some competition in the discrete graphics card market, with Intel entering the fray later this year.

This is set against the fact that Taiwan produces nearly two-thirds of the world's chips - and about 90% of the 'advanced' ones. And their neighbour just had another dress rehearsal. I don't expect China will want to kill the golden goose, but I'd be surprised if its golden eggs got much cheaper, under new management. I wouldn't worry - it's probably still months away.

And as for our 'emissions targets' - they'll easily meet themselves without our having to lift a finger. Drought, floods, pestilence, wildfire and financial obliteration will do all the heavy lifting. I must be in a good mood, today!

[paulw]

"The NZ government has set a target of having 30 percent of our light vehicle fleet converted to EVs by 2035. I confidently predict that we'll easily meat and almost certainly exceed that target. By 2035 I expect that few of us will be able to afford to fill an ICE-powered car so EVs will have already become the cheaper option."

I predict by that time that no one will be able to afford to buy a new or near new EV.

[phill]

the current war has already advanced a few things
wars tend to do that sort of thing well

[Perry]

Yeah, sure has . . .