10G
1G
[00M
10M
1M
100K
— Bits per Square Inch
^f Semiconductor
Ld
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Figure 4. History and outlook on the
number of bits per square inch on
various storage media
Figure 5 illustrate the extension of the
same technologies shown in Figure 1 to the year
2004.
1000X
100X
10X
" i
1994 (1X) 2004
- DRAM MB / $
- Color display pixels / $
- Storage GB / $
- Uniprocessor MIPS
- Communications bandwidth
Figure 5. Relative improvements in
hardware technologies: 1994-2004
Figure 5 suggests that while the improve-
ment in memory, display resolution, storage and
processor speed will be significant over the next
ten years, the increase in bandwidth for electronic
communication will be the main technological
phenomena of interest. The 50 megabyte file
which required 40 seconds for transmission over a
T3 line will be sent in a fraction of a second with
the improvements suggested in Figure 5.
In the area of user interface developments
in graphics and visualization will continue to con-
tribute to improved representation of the data and
the ability to display the representations on low
end machines. IBM, for example, has recently
announced a graphics adapter card which has 128
bits; this allows for true color in several layers,
image buffering, and leaves enough for separate
icon representation. This card is available for less
than half of the 1994 price for less functionality.
Another growth area for public viewing of
complex information is the internet. Access to the
internet is already national, spreading rapidly to
international. From a graphical perspective, the
initial 2-D internet world is quickly moving to 3-
D, animated graphics, combining the graphics and
communications technologies.
3. APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN
NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
3.1 Spatial Analysis
Methods of examination of natural
resources data has, not surprisingly, followed the
technology curve. In the 1980s the capability to
render graphical displays in an acceptable time
from a user interface viewpoint, 8-bit color sup-
port, and the disk capacity to store large amounts
of spatial data provided the infrastructure on
which the GIS market was built. The technology
initially supported a move from paper maps to
computer cartography and GISs in which the spa-
tial and attribute data were linked dynamically.
Later GIS developments have included links to
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