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Transistors and Integrated Circuit
Transistors are basically on/off switches using electricity to determine if its off or on. They paved the way for us to build things smaller and smaller.
Integrated Circuits (IC) are a bundle of MOS transistors.
Following Moore's law it was thought that smaller size but better speed and capacity would occur forever. We have sense learned that on our current platform (silicon) the heat capacity when you get super super small can no longer be beat and just melts the IC -
ARPANET
Was the first large scale packet switching network. Licklinder and Taylor used the project to enable access to remote computers. Eventually the network had remote login, file transfer, and email and was declared operational in 1975. With more and more agencies and foundations wanting in on the network it eventually became today what we call the Internet. -
microprocessor
What we think of today as a CPU. Implements one or more IC into one hardware piece. It is multipurpose, clock driven, register based, digital integrated circuit that accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in memory and outputs the results. This utility allows for the multipurpose use cases we see today, anything from smart watches to factory machines. With the invention of high level languages you can program these in any way you can imagine. -
personal computers
A multi-purpose computer, using those microprocessors, whose size, capabilities and price make it easy for a individual to use. This opened up the modern age with for people not just in research unis but everyone around the world. The idea that anyone can have the power that a computer gives you was revolutionary and led to the digital revolution we have seen over the past half century. -
Internet
As with ARPANET this is the extension of that but on a scale of not just a few universities but the world. With the advent of TCP/IP to communicate between networks and devices, proven with ARPANET, and the use of hypertext documents linking "web" pages, created the World Wide Web. This is where now anyone with access to a computer could find anything that someone else has posted onto the web. Sharing ideas across the world. -
Iphone/cell phones
Think next gen PC. The cell phone is just the latest in the line from transistor to microprocessor to computer. With the shrinking of tech we are able to now have the power of the Internet in our pockets. With this power comes some of the most revolutionary ideas and market forces to uplift humanity and push us into the future. Personally the first think I remember was using my IPhone to search the web and post on forums using a browser unlike when you had to text into post your comments. -
Sources images
https://www.electronicsmedia.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IC-300x207.jpg
https://d2um6umu4gwssp.cloudfront.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/the-history-of-the-microprocessor.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Altair_8800_Computer.jpg/300px-Altair_8800_Computer.jpg
https://www.verizon.com/about/sites/default/files/2021-01/high-speed-internet-1230x690.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/IPhone_1st_Gen.svg/200px-IPhone_1st_Gen.svg.png -
