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History of Comp
History of Comp
It is supplemented by the
two PBS documentaries video tapes "Inventing the Future" And "The Paperback
Computer". The chapter highlights some of the advances to look for in the
documentaries.
In particular, when viewing the movies you should look for two things:
The progression in hardware representation of a bit of data:
1. Vacuum Tubes (1950s) - one bit on the size of a thumb;
2. Transistors (1950s and 1960s) - one bit on the size of a fingernail;
3. Integrated Circuits (1960s and 70s) - thousands of bits on the size of a
hand
4. Silicon computer chips (1970s and on) - millions of bits on the size of a
finger nail.