Importance of the Computer Chip

The computer chip has come a long way since its inception.

It's small, fast, and has a name that makes it sound like a snack food. The computer chip is a fairly recent invention that has become ubiquitous with modern life. Without the computer chip the electronic age would not be possible.

History

The first computer chip was patented in 1952. Computers in the 1950s used vacuum tubes; a single bit of data took up the space of a finger. It was not until the 1960s and '70s that computer chips were widely used. Silicone chips in the 1980s had millions of bits of data stored on something the size of a fingernail.

Significance

The computer chip is what allowed computers to become what they are today--smaller, faster and able to do so many complex calculations at once. Without them a computer would only be able to do a single task at a time.

Function

Computers work through a series of on or off switches. The computer chip is made up of millions of tiny transistors that can be set to either on, with a positive charge, or off, with a negative charge. Despite the simplicity of a single switch only able to say yes or no, different combinations do different actions, such as having the chip access data, and enough together can do complex actions such as process the information that lets you see images on your computer screen.

Potential

The potential of the chip seems unlimited, continuing to get exponentially faster. The next generation of computer chips may even be based on the human brain, in an attempt to build more resilient chips with better pattern recognition.

References

• Espaceenet: Bibliographic Data
• Time: How the Chip Works
• The University of Rhode Island: History of Computers
• USC NEWS: USC Engineers Look to the Brain For the Next-Generation Computer Chip