[kens]

One thing I've wondered is if Moore's Law is good or bad, in the sense of how fast should we have been able to improve IC technology. Was progress limited by business decisions or is this as fast as improvements could take place?

A thought experiment: suppose we meet aliens who are remarkably similar to ourselves and have an IC industry. Would they be impressed by our Moore's law progress, or wonder why we took so long?

[NortySpock]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law, third paragraph of the header, claims that Moore's Law drove targets in R&D and manufacturing, but does not cite a reference for this claim.

"Moore's prediction has been used in the semiconductor industry to guide long-term planning and to set targets for research and development."

[imtringued]

I'm not sure what the point of that question is. In theory you could have a government subsidize construction of fabs so that skipping nodes is feasible but why on earth would you do that when the industry is fully self sufficient and wildly profitable?