If you are a fan of any sci-fi show, then chances are you’ve seen a device like this.
It has been in the imagination of many science fiction writers, small computing devices in the palm of your hand. Capable of doing anything you would ever need on the go. During the 1970’s it was inconceivable to have a computer the size of a person’s hand. Then in June 29, 2007 the first iPhone was announced. By 2018 everyone has some sort of hand held computing device based off of the original iPhone design.
This increase is due to Moore’s Law, which states that the transistor density of a computer chip will double, every two years.
The same observation can also be applied to other electronic components like sensors and screen pixel densities. With such improvements over time, our phones as a whole have been getting more and more complex, equipped with many different kinds of sensors to collect data. In time our phones, originally meant as a communications device became an all-purpose handheld computer
Most modern phones now come equipped with a multitude of sensors, incluing; a three-axis accelerometer, a barometer, a magnetometer, a microphone, a GPS tracker, and a camera. These sensors are used to do anything from giving your locations on a map, to letting you tilt the phone while you play games.
Some people see the technology in science fiction and wish that such imagined contraptions could become a reality, but if you take a good look at your phone, you realize that we’ve had them for years. The only difference is that the novelty of handheld technology is nearly gone. The 70’s thought that such devices would only be used in the name of science, but in reality, these miracles of technology are just slim black rectangles that let us take selfies.
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