Smartphones and laptops operate on microscopic circuits made from purified rock, enabling the control of electron flow for computing tasks. This technology results from centuries of contributions from various scientific and engineering disciplines.

Niklaus Wirth's 1995 essay "A Plea for Lean Software" critiques the software industry's inefficiencies, coining Wirth's Law: software is becoming slower at a rate faster than hardware improves. Wirth reflects on the simplicity of interactive text editors from 25 years prior compared to modern software complexity.