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39
who are CPUs possible?????/ (media.scored.co)
posted 10 days ago by SpeedRunnerInLife on scored.co (+0 / -0 / +39Score on mirror )
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the-new-style on scored.co
9 days ago 10 points (+0 / -0 / +10Score on mirror ) 2 children
Except that part came *after* the the crucial invention

> A piece of gold foil was glued to the edge of a triangular plastic wedge, and then the foil was sliced with a razor at the tip of the triangle. The result was two very closely spaced contacts of gold. When the plastic was pushed down onto the surface of a germanium crystal and voltage applied to the other side (on the base of the crystal), current started to flow from one contact to the other as the base voltage pushed the electrons away from the base towards the other side near the contacts. The point-contact transistor had been invented.

That was "just" minaturization and power reduction. Valve Amps provide the same switching mechanism.

And so do relays.


Here's the 1958 Famcom computer, not a melted silicon rock in sight - just copper from copper ore - mainly Chalcopyrite at the time, and iron.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j544ELauus


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MI7BZ3EW on scored.co
9 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 )
Relays are very expensive in terms of power consumption and very slow and take up a lot of space not to mention are mechanical and thus subject to wear and tear. Yes, you could use them but silicon is WAY cheaper and does the same thing better.
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MI7BZ3EW on scored.co
9 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
Also, fun fact: Back in the 50s, a "computer" was a job you could apply for. They'd stick a bunch of "computers" in a room and give them instructions on what to compute. They would have someone in the front of the room make sure that everyone was coordinated and synchronized.

The programs would tell each computer what she was supposed to do.
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sperge on scored.co
9 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 ) 1 child
that doesn't sound real
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MI7BZ3EW on scored.co
9 days ago 1 point (+0 / -0 / +1Score on mirror ) 1 child
It's how we built the first nuclear bombs. Figuring out how much charge to place where so you could get the right density of nuclear material to actually ignite required a ton of calculations.
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sperge on scored.co
8 days ago 0 points (+0 / -0 )
crazy
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