Exploring big and small possibilities of the information revolution

" ‘System-on-a-chip' is the new buzzword today," said Professor Woodward Yang in 1999. "It's really not that far away." As Yang sees it, the computer revolution is really just beginning. Systems are poised to become smaller, more portable, and found everywhere from traditional desktops to cell phones and pagers. Yang in 1999 said researchers are close to putting a billion transistors on a chip – a thousandfold increase since the early 1990s – something that, even a few years ago, seemed impossible. The advance means entire systems on a single chip are becoming feasible for the first time, meaning devices like cellular phones, pagers, and personal digital assistants will be able to do things like scan, manipulate documents, and send them electronically.