Referred to as the "heart" of most computers, the microprocessor is "a complete computation engine that is fabricated on a single chip (
Microprocessor)." The first microprocessor is identified as the Intel 4004. "The 4004 is the first complete CPU on one chip, the first commercially available microprocessor, a feat made possible by the use of the new silicon gate technology allowing the integration of a higher number of transistors and a faster speed than was possible before (
Intel)." In the November, 1971 issue of
Electronic News an ad was placed by Intel (pictured below) highlighting a "new era of electronics," referring to the microprocessor as a "building block" that engineers could purchase and then customize with software to perform different functions in a wide variety of electronic devices.
Microprocessors have evolved today into being able to do a multitude of computing and have truly revolutionized the way electronics and computers operate. For example, cybernetics would never have evolved into what it is today without the advancement of the first microprocessor released by Intel. Can you think of any other inventions or innovations today that would have been impossible without the invention of the microprocessor?
Imagine every house having a "mainframe" instead of a personal computer, the real estate necessary for a computer was enormous prior to the development of the microprocessor. Our smart-phones would have never existed, and we wouldn't have processing speeds as fast as available today due to the physical length an electrical charge would need to travel. Quite an interesting development indeed.
ReplyDeleteA key point is that the microprocessor is what makes devices such as the hand held calculator and personal computer possible. Does anything that has a microprocessor qualify as a computer?
ReplyDeleteI would say that it does; A microprocessor is what makes a device a computer. When you hear someone say "there's a tiny computer inside of that..." they are referring to the microprocessor inside of it classifying the device as a "computer." Microprocessors allowed for numerous innovations on rudimentary inventions and thus excelled the technological advancement with computers.
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