Yesterday saw the 44th anniversary (15 Nov 1971) of the Intel 4004 microprocessor.
This marked the first time a user-programmable microprocessor was available on the general market.
These were snapped up, both by Universities to use in research and teaching; and by manufacturers in equipment. They were used in all sorts of products - from calculators, to computers; to gaming machines:
Interestingly, you could get the processor to interface to a centralised computer system to display the output from the processor.
Luckily, we haven't got to do anything like as complicated these days to be able to programme a microcontroller, or to get a displayed output.
Indeed, most mobile 'phones are far more powerful than these microprocessors. Progress has been startling in 44 years!
To find out more:
Story of Intel 4004
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