The 4004 would lay the foundation for the modern computing industry today. All modern processors use the 4004's same core concept, of being able to run various commands through programming. Taking this concept to the extreme, someone went so far as to boot Linux on the Intel 4004 . It took over four days to boot, but it worked!
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Aaron Klotz Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.
aldaia Actually the first microprocessor was the much more powerful 20-bit MP944 that powered the Central Air Data Computer (CADC) of the US Navy fighter F-14 Tomcat, beating intel by one year. It remained unknown for several decades because it was classified. Reply
MartinUsher I still have a copy of the 1972 Intel data book describing the 4004 and other parts of Intel's processor ecosystem (ROM, RAM, processors etc.). (If its not available online I'll scan it once we have somewhere to put it.) I think the Intel part could be considered the first processor just because it was sold to the public for whatever purpose they could think up. Its true that it took a few years for the public to catch on but that's because the rather daunting fixed costs of getting the parts and tooled up to use them meant that only a relatively few deep pocketed organizations could contemplate it. (My boss at the time was far sighted enough to realize the potential of these parts but his bosses nixed it — too much investment etc. )("The usual".) The MP944 was really a specialized processor slice, it needed a lot more logic than just the specialized p-mos to logic level translators and clock generators to function. Reply
Lamarr the Strelok aldaia said: Actually the first microprocessor was the much more powerful 20-bit MP944 that powered the Central Air Data Computer (CADC) of the US Navy fighter F-14 Tomcat, beating intel by one year. It remained unknown for several decades because it was classified. Ya the 4004 was the first commercial programmable chip it looks like. I surprisingly hadn't heard of the MP 944 so thanks for that. What a machine that must have been.It still sorta blows my mind the same hardware bits can be programmed to do totally different things. Certainly not free from controversy, but from just before the invention of the transistor to today, Intel has done some remarkable stuff. Great article. Reply
bobmon Admin said: A CPU collector/enthusiast has taken the top off of an Intel 4004 processor and taken pictures of the chip's insides, showing the 10,000nm chip in all its glory. Intel's revolutionary 54-year-old 4004 chip was the world's first programmable microchip — 2,300-transistor 10,000nm processor exposed : Read more There are also some nice images at https://timeline.intel.com/, including this photomicrograph: Each black square on this dieplot of the 4004 represents one transistor, the basic unit of power for a microprocessor. The 4004 processor contained 2,300 transistors in all. Reply
Yonov How gentle for Intel to describe the events of that time. Reality: Intel was a foundry that produced its own memories and at the same time produced the circuits of external developers. Exactly on the model of the current TSMC. They also offered a service to optimize the customer's design to fit well with their production process. Busicom appeared, who came with a design developed by them (logic circuit designer Masatoshi Shima), Ted Hoff offered them a better option for implementing a three-chip system, Fagin and Shima made the final version. I emphasize that all this was within the framework of a standard service for optimizing a customer design that Intel offered to its customers, without in any way acquiring the intellectual rights to the project. That is, the relationship was like that between a writer and a proofreader. But Intel realized the potential of the processor and pressured commercial Busicom to cede the rights to them. At the same time, they attracted Shima – the progenitor of the idea. I can't think of a more rude and brutal treatment from a foundry to its customer. Busicom is gone, but their shadow still hangs over Intel. Because you can only do something like that once. Now Intel is desperately looking for customers for its foundry, but everyone remembers the fate of Busicom… Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/cpu-collector-exposes-microscopic-insides-of-intels-revolutionary-4004-chip-10-000nm-chip-was-the-worlds-first-programmable-microchip-processor#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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