Technology

Technology questions age faster than any other category on this site, which is why every figure here carries a year. A processor count, a market share or a user number can be off by an order of magnitude within a decade, and a statistic you last checked five years ago is probably wrong now.

The most useful tool here is the doubling rule. Transistor counts, storage capacity and computing cost have improved at a roughly steady exponential rate for fifty years, so you can derive a modern figure from any historical one you remember by counting doublings. That single technique answers a surprising share of these questions without recall.

The recurring correction is that specification names stop meaning what they say. Process nodes, wattage ratings, battery life and speed figures are all marketing labels attached to measurements taken under stated conditions, and the honest reading requires knowing which conditions. The sources here are named so you can check.