Ten of The First Microprocessors - Intel 4004, MOS 6502, AMD 2901, Fairchild F8, etc.
This is a mixed media artwork exhibiting ten of the first microprocessors. Each microprocessor is set in a diagram that shows the electrical designation of each lead. Above the chips is a ChipScape of the microprocessor itself.
Each microprocessor was selected for its history and relevance to the microprocessor market. These are some very creative designs that have received little attention in the market's rush to standardize on the Intel/IBM PC platform in the early 1980s. Still, these are the processors that made personal computers possible. Intel developed the first microprocessor, the 4004, in 1971. However, Intel’s goal was not to become the king of the microprocessor industry. Its only interest was to sell more memory chips. Most computers and automation equipment were built with 100’s of individual logic chips (which Intel did not make). Intel wanted to replace these logic chips with binary ones and zeros to be interpreted by the 4004, which needed to store these ones and zeros in ... memory chips. Microprocessors were seen as an opportunity to convert logic chip market share into Intel’s memory market share. Soon the true value of the microprocessor was realized, and the industry changed. Microprocessors enabled the mobile computing world we now know. Each of these microprocessors was the first for each of their respective companies.
The Intel 4004, 4Q/1971: The 4004 was the first semiconductor device that provided, at the chip level, the functions of a general-purpose computer. The 4004 was comprised of a 4-bit Control Unit and an Arithmetic and Logic Unit. The 4004 chip was 1/8th inch wide by 1/6th inch long. This small microprocessor had more computing power than the first electronic computer, the ENIAC, which occupied 3,000 cubic feet and weighed 30 tons.
