How Do CPUs Continue to Increase in Power?

The Intel "Processor History" chronicles the constant increase in the power of microprocessors over the last 30 years.

Intel CEO Gordon Moore noticed very early on that the number of transistors that could be fit on one of these microprocessors tended to double every 18 months.

This pattern has been named Moore's Law. It's not really a law, of course—merely an observation. However, this rate of growth in processor power has held for 30 years, and many experts predict it will continue for another 20.

This is one of the major reasons why computers age so quickly: if you buy a computer, then that computer will only be half as powerful as the computer you could buy with the same amount of money 18 months later!