The late Christopher Evans, a psychologist and author, calculated that if the motor car had evolved as fast as the computer, and over the same time period, 'Today you would be able to buy a Rolls-Royce for ?35, it would do three million miles to the gallon, and it would deliver enough power to drive the QE2 And if you were interested in miniaturisation, you could place half a dozen of them on a pinhead.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Computers have improved far faster than cars over the same period, as shown by imagined hypothetical performance metrics.
- In plain terms
- Cars would be much better if they improved as fast as computers have.
- What can you take from it?
- Computer progress outpaces automotive innovation.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do some technologies improve faster?
- How do we measure progress?
Another view
Cars and computers serve different needs, so direct comparison is imperfect.
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