Technology advances so fast it makes older tech obsolete. Just think 10-20 years form now Equinox and Etracs will become obsolete.
I am waiting for technology to advance in the ability to distinguish gold. Once I can know I am digging gold before I dig it I'll drop a grand on a detector.
Needler, I'm afraid you can't look at the past decades vast-improvements, as a gauge for future decade's speed of improvements.
It was true from 1965 to 1970, then 70 to 75, then 75 to 80, then 80 to 85, and so forth . Every 5 years, or every decade, in those years, saw lightening fast evolution. When I started this, in the mid 1970s as a 14-ish yr. old, you were a dinosaur if you had a machine that was a mere 5 yrs. old. And as soon as you "updated", something new came down the pike where your friends left you in the dust. Doh!
But the same can not be said now. Nor going forward the next 10 or 20 yrs. Stop and think: Machines like the Explorer are approaching 20 yrs. The CZ6 is well over 20 yrs. old now. Various 2 filter Tesoros that some of us reach for in certain hunt locations are well over 20 yrs. old now. The same could not be said of 1985 or 1990-ish.
Why has the speed of evolution slowed down ? Why are some 10 or 15 or 20 yr. old machines equally competitive today ? Because we've reached a point of diminishing returns. We've "pushed the laws of physics" to a certain point. There's only so-much signal you can pump into the ground. And there's only so much info you can "pull back out" of the ground. And no amount of "faster and smaller" (evolution of 'puters) will change this formula. You can not change the laws of physics.
As for ability to tell aluminum apart from gold (on a size per size, TID per TID basis), the technology exists. But you have to wear lead suits, get reams of government clearances, spend millions of dollar for this equipment mounted on a bobcat tractor, and clear all people for a block radius.
Don't ask me why.
