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1. In 1948 due to the invention of transistors there appeared the possibility to replace vacuum tubes. The transistor occupied an important place on
the way to computer development. The potential advantage of the transistor
over the vacuum tube was almost as great as that of the vacuum tube over the
relay. A transistor can switch flows of electricity as fast as the vacuum tubes
used in computers, but the transistors use much less power than equivalent
vacuum tubes, and are considerably smaller. Transistors are less expensive
and more re liable.They were mechanically rugged, had practically unlimited
life and could do some jobs better than electronic tubes. Transistors were
made of crystallic solid material called semiconductor.
With the transistor came the possibility of building computers with much
greater complexity and speed.
2. The integrated circuit constituted another major step in the development of computer technology. Until 1959 the fundamental logical components of digital computers were the individual electrical switches, first in
the form of relays, then vacuum tubes, then transistors. In the vacuum tubes
and relay stages, additional discrete components, such as resistors, inductors, and capacitors were required in order to make the whole system work.
These components were generally each about the same size as packaged transistors. Integrated circuit technology permitted the elimination of some of
these components and integration of most of the others on the same chip of
semiconductor that contains the transistor. Thus the basic logic element —
the switch, or “flip-flop,” which required two separate transistors and some
resistors and capacitors in the early 1950s, could be packaged into a single
small unit in 1960. The chip was an important achievement in the accelerating step of computer technology.
3. In 1974 a company in New Mexico, called Micro Instrumentation Telemetry System (MITS) developed the Altair 8800, a personal computer (PC)
in a kit. The Altair had no keyboard, but a panel of switches with which to enter
the information. Its capacity was less than one percent that of the 1991 Hewlett-Packard handheld computer. But the Altair led to a revolution in computer
electronics that continues today. Hardware manufacturers soon introduced
personal computers, and software manufacturers began developing software to
allow the computers to process words, manipulate data, and draw. During the
1980s computers became progressively smaller, better, and cheaper.
Today the personal computer can serve as a work station for the individual. A wide array of computer functions are now accessible to people with
no technical background.

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