This is not a required activity. We offer these surveys simply to engage the students and satisfy our curiousity about what you think about the topics of the week. Look on the forums for updates on the results of our surveys.
Question 1
When do you think Moore's Law will end?
5 years
10 years
15 years
never
It already has.
What's Moore's Law?
Question 2
We described a hole, a positively charged object in a semiconductor, by discussing the sequential hopping of electrons, filling a vacancy. Do you think that a hole is as "real" as an electron? Is it just as much a particle as an electron is?
Yes, a hole is just as legitimate a particle as is an electron.
No, a hole is a fictional construct, whereas electrons are really particles.
I don't know, although I wish that I did.
Question 3
Will we ever have real commercial devices that use a single molecule as the active element (the channel) of the transistors?
Yes, but it will be very far in the future.
Yes, within 20 years.
No, never.
It is really impossible to say.
Question 4
With computing power growing at an exponential rate, there are clear socioeconomic implications, and not all of them are positive. For example, one often hears about the "digital divide" between those who have access to computer technology and those who do not. Given this reality, should the accelerating growth of technology be reigned in by government regulation?
Yes, we cannot trust our future to engineers alone. Progress should be considered holistically, thinking not only of possibilities but also implications.
No, technological progress has brought far more benefit than harm. Governments should stand back and let this happen, and allow society to reap these benefits.
There's no point in trying to regulate these things. Technology will be developed somewhere in the world, whether any one particular nation tries to stop it or not.
I do not feel informed enough to comment intelligently on this topic.
Question 5
What was the first computer you ever used?
Something with an Intel pentium (or later) processor
A MacBook
Something with an Intel 486 processor
Something with an Intel 386 processor
Something with an Intel 286 processor
Something with an Intel 8086 processor
An Apple II
Commodore 64
PDP 11
ENIAC
No clue, but it was much larger than the one I use today.
Other