Revolution
Doron D. Swade · 2022
Abstract This chapter describes the microelectronics revolution. It examines whether ‘revolution’ when applied to electronics is historically responsible. It describes the principles of semiconductors, the invention of the transistor, integrated circuits (ICs) and the microprocessor, and how history acknowledges its inventors. Moore’s Law is defined and discussed. Minicomputers, DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation), and the dominance of the PDP series of minicomputers from the mid-1960s are described, up to the death of minicomputers as a class in the mid-1990s. The history of the microprocessor, its role in the personal computer movement, the Altair kit computer, the Californian Homebrew Computer Club, and the birth of Apple are described. It concludes with the entrance of the IBM PC into the business and home computer markets, and the founding of Microsoft.