Privacy and security in highly dynamic systems

The IT community is accustomed to looking at the evolution of computers referring to the "laws" and "theories" of Moore and Bell. However, in the age of ad hoc and spontaneous networking and miniaturization, additional non-hardware-based dimensions may help to influence our conceptions of future developments in computing. The theory of computer-class formation from 1975 by Bell, which is based on Moore's Law, asserts computer evolution follows a cycle where the presiding dominant class is described by performance improvements and stable prices. A new class begins to be formed when the cost of a given function can steadily be reduced. Given this scenario, the conditions for a new computing class are reached approximately once every decade. Bell's theory accounted for the emergence of minicomputers in the 1970s, which at a cost of approximately $100,000 dollars were significantly less expensive than the $1 million mainframes of the era. The minicomputers were superseded by $1,000 PCs, followed by the several-dollar digital handheld, and even the smaller ubiquitous devices, some of which cost just a few cents.