There's a surprising amount you can do with just 8-bit microcontrollers which on average (using extensive low-power mode) use less energy than a housefly. Perfo

There's a surprising amount you can do with just 8-bit microcontrollers which on average (using extensive low-power mode) use less energy than a housefly. Performance can be as good as 1 microwatt per MIPS. We could run most "smart device" applications off of those little solar cells used for calculators. For house applications, virtually any kind of efficiency gain that computerization gives us would offset the energy consumed in computation. The problem is not the presence of computing, it's that fossil energy does not pay for its externalities. Which isn't to say that computation-intensive ads aren't the worst thing ever.... And it does seem that some of the most hype-driven applications of digitization rely on exceedingly (and often intentionally) inefficient algorithms (blockchain and deep learning), but overall digitization can often be done with very little energy usage for the same benefit. I'm reminded of this cellphone that works on about 4 milliwatts. (although granted, it's using wireless electricity) https://www.wired.com/story/this-cell-phone-can-make-calls-even-without-a-battery/ https://www.wired.com/story/this-cell-phone-can-make-calls-e...