[NoobSaibot135]

I like your analogy of a tick tock ~= epoch of progress

Step change, then optimization of that step change

Kind of like a grand father clock with a huge pendulum swinging to one side, then another(commonly used metaphor).

[auspiv]

Intel has been doing "tick-tock" for almost 20 years - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tick%E2%80%93tock_model

[treyd]

It's a metaphor that's been used with the advancement of CPU designs at least as far back as the 80s or 90s. Intel uses it explicitly in their marketing nowadays, I believe.