Yes Moore's law will end. But not because progress stalls. There will be an even faster rate of increase to come. I call it Moore^3. Sure there is a point where we are working with individual atoms. But shrinking components is just one way to get more performance. Memristors will come in faster then people are expecting and quantum computers will come in a couple of decades. Even after that there is a potential way to continue a hyper-exponential increase of computing power.
Existence is infinite and there is proof.

All the technologies you speak of involve replacing something bigger with something smaller. The wall is the size of the atom, you are not avoiding that by switching to molecular circuits or similar...

Intel's own scientists have also predicted the end of Moore's law:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-133066.html

One should note that all features do not have to scale down similarly with process technology, so the will no doubt be a couple of process nodes after 16 nm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_nm

This is all wrong!

When gears of the primitive mechanical computer couldn't be shrank anymore, we invented vacuum tubes. And when the vacuum tubes did hit the shrinking wall as well, we invented the transistors and then integrated circuits. There are plenty of emerging alternative to the IC transistors. Apparently, the next big thing is 3D self organized molecular circuit. How about quantum computing? We are just shifting from one paradigm to another. There is no wall. There never was and probably never will.

Take a look at this excellent presentation about this subject:

http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us.html

Ramon

The only reason why the manufacturing process has followed Moore's law is because people TRY to make it follow Moore's law.

If Moore had fudged the math and come up with a 1.5 increase every 2 years, or a 2-fold increase every four years, then that would be what the industry follows.

Another self-fufilling prophecy: I predict you will suspect your wife (or girlfriend or that woman you stare at but never have the nerve to talk to) is a cheeting whore.

Memristor proliferation may actually accelerate integrated device denisty past Moore's Law for a few years.

Moore's law may have to be changed a little bit, from "transistors" to "switching devices" or something.

Point is we're only getting started

Anything that is predicted or perceived to be able to continue "forever" will always come to and end before the hopeful optimists (or vested interest) predict. History has proven that countless times.

The electronics revolution has been one of the greatest technological achievements of mankind, and it will clearly continue for some time. Whether cost factors or technology barriers will ultimately end it is currently not known, but it is very safe to predict its end, the only difficult question is when.

From Control Data transistors 1959 to MainFrame ibm 360 developement, look at number 3.(today 6) Yet, it took little time to go to memory that single trace scope had built in 1947, recovered while in service. Question:how to slow these Amphetamized people down, as youth had NO chnace to even live. Wala: Moores Law. Start Big Stay big, for long time. Yet true science, mainframe quickly turned to solid state memory & then matrix thru ssd cpu integration. trouble. Most of needed hardware to matrix wasn't invented & whole smear was TOP SECRET. Pentagon/Alliant TS. Input: Whittier, That Standard Bearer That Changes with Every Defeat.
theINQ Rev.13.64.08.000x NEXT: Heck, Hexadecimal Code Was Just Being Sorted into being. Ms/ Hooper trying desparted To Knave Something Workable to Industry. As Portable, Standardized Software? In name Fortran. You Pay For What You Don't UnderStand. 'Ole CoBol Drashek EG Frank von DRashek, Rochester Technology Group. Code AKie, wasn't going to be telling much of anything to Anyone. Lips sealed, ears removed, Eyes, Polarized from Light of public Need. Suffragettes....

So public slowly crawled forward & enough of myself Remains to say, told You.(did have to learn to write again) HTML preceded cobol, as its studio display language. by 1960 languages where sprouting like Victory Gardens.

So Where Thomas Moores Law Now? bTW Moores Are Mafia Resturantuer Family From Edina, Village founded by City of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1845. MOORES Manufacturer Soda Pop. NOT Electrical Engineering, so much.Yet, In homi Way, Listen To ALL Those Blabblers.

Well Size of Trannie started coming into reality of usefulness this decade, so trannie count to mimick needed hardware is in order & todays' Moores law is Trannie Count. Something going UP Faster than Volcano in heat. NEED IS GREAT.

Next, When Trannie count Is High, Estimated to be 8 billion+, by Ultee', IS MATRIX & SSD, Back to 1960s', With Finalized Hardware.... Moore hardware IS Needed To Further Develope Moore Matrixes. Hardware needs work with old hardware & adopt new standards as well. so its ever increaseing need. With SSD theres NO reason 16 bit games cann't be revived & played. Only in HardWired CPU of Today is bit width & string lenght Important due to HardWire. In SSd it can be DYNAMIC.

So whats cpu thats cable box, game machine, game card, multi O?S beast to do, except develope More Matrixs to run.
Matrix & memory design itself become Moores Law, increaseing till, well, No Moore Useful events can be Softwared into its OPEN Architecture. Start Your Own Telco, Matrix. Start Your Own Radio/Tv station. Start Your Own CAD/CAM. List Just Staggers Mind. yet SSD isn't limited to small size chip, its software that makes it HUM. Software Doubles in Size, Matrix takes more space to run, Need Bigger Matrix. 64Gb Matrix. USB Thumb Matrix. Plug IT In 'Ur Ear? Well, Maybe NOT. Medical Matrixes,O.K.. DMV Matrix. Even Computer 'Zine Matrix. Remember OLD Days When Computing was Done on Computers?Hahaha. Well You Get Picture. Arrays as Small as Terrabyte block? Wow, My, Gosh....What will think of Next.