Miniaturization - The Biggest Little Thing to Happen in the Last 60 Years

If you were to state what you think was the biggest thing to happen in the last 60 years was?, what would you think it might be. In this video, we look at a technique which has transformed the world into what we have now.

Written researched and presented by Paul Shillito

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[daddad]

I started in ther early 70s' as a computer operator on an IBM 360-140 mainframe. We ran the processing for the world's 3rd largest oil company, a car parts retailer & an international chain of pharmacies.
The system had 8 Mb of magnetic core memory (you could hear the cores flipping), executed up to 34, 000 instrctions a second & had around 140 MB of removable disk storage.
Today, my robot vacuum cleaner has a processor which runs 2, 200, 000, 000 instructions a second & has 8 GB of storage.
So my vacuum cleaner is 65, 000 times more powerful than the first mainframe computer I worked on, which was running the entire processing of 3 large international corporations.
It makes me feel older than my 66 years!

[bullettube]

I'm 74 years old and the pace of technology scares the heck out of me! My first home built radio was a crystal set and my first home built computer was basically a simple calculator. The funny thing is, I don't own a smart phone! Don't need one and don't want one. But I love my PC, built it from parts bought from New Egg, and it still runs well enough to watch videos like this from Curious Droid. My eight year old grand-daughter calls me on her mother's phone once or twice a week, she knows how to use my PC to watch her favorite programs on You Tube! What kind of world will she know when she is my age now? I hope it's a world at peace with itself!

[DFSJR]

I got to meet William Shockley, Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson at an electronic shop Williams Electronics in Highland Park, NJ. Really nice of them to sit down and talk to me. Best day of my life. Being 19 and talking to these 3 Nobel prize winners was just fantastic.

[petermainwaringsx]

I've seen videos explaining how SSD's work but I still think nah, it's magic.

[jeffreyschweitzer]

67 years old here. So many reminders of all that has changed in our lives. Thank you!

[jonathanmatthews]

As important and life changing as the transistor was in the 20th century, I will die on this hill that indoor plumbing was the greatest thing to come out of the previous century.

My dad has told me enough stories about running to the outhouse in -30C winters on the Canadian prairies. Or having to use the same bathwater that him and his 4 siblings shared.

[andrewfrancis]

Those ASML lithography machines, make rocket science seem pedestrian.

[patricksmith]

One computer pioneer who is all too often forgotten was Konrad Zuse. His Z range of computers were grounding breaking in the early 40s. Its claimed he made the first programmable computer. He is overlooked probaly because he was funded by the Nazis during the war, although he had been conscripted he was not a member of the Nazi party. A computing genius none the less.

[TheStuport]

As a youngster of The Jetsons Era, Society really has come a long way in technology. Just thrilled I grew up as a youngster playing outside. Yes, I was my parents "TV Remote Control" when told to change the channel for them. Once the remotes made the scene, my Dad said "the phones are next" and he wasn't far off!

[BradGryphonn]

The first computer I saw and used was a Texas Instruments 'Intelligent Terminal' around early 1982. I was working in seismic oil search and was earmarked to be sent to the States to train as a systems engineer. However, I had lied about my age when I got the job. I was only 17, and the minimum age for the job was 18. So I had to make excuses as to why I couldn't travel. Man, what a missed opportunity. Back then I was earning about 100 bucks a day in the field, 5 times my friend's incomes. The system engineers were making 700 a day.

[lk]

A good video topic would be how a monolithic IC is designed and fabricated. From capturing a circuit design, to simulating it, then laying it out, then depositing the differently doped silicon layers onto a substrate silicon wafer inside a quartz oven, as well depositing the metal interconnect. Then cutting the wafer into individual dice and enclosing each one inside a small epoxy housing with the die's contacts brought out as tiny metal legs or pads. It's a fascinating process.

[Chris_at_Home]

I worked in a TV repair shop when I was 16 in 1969. I went on and learned both transistors, tubes, analog and digital computers in a military enlistment. We were also taught Boolean Algebra. Worked in electronics and telecommunications my whole work career with lots of hands on of computer hardware and networking. I’ve seen a lot of changes along with miniaturization of electronics equipment.

[terrylandess]

The argument concerning the warmth of a classic tube amplifier vs a digital one will never end where sound is concerned. You can use many different devices to measure what is being produced and they will say it's identical - yet people will still feel differently.

Is the digital world conspiring to make us believe it is always right? :D

[kilvertm]

Processors truly are one of mankind's most ingenious inventions. Creating a processor is such a huge milestone for a species.

[AlexSchendel]

10:16 if we're being pedantic, technically, Moore's law is still pretty accurate because it was only concerned with the number of transistors on a single IC, not with the number of transistors in a constant area. While transistor scaling has slowed (and Dennard scaling has entirely died), we are skirting the limits of Moore's law by leveraging advanced packaging, allowing us to put more dies on a single package. This allows us to fit more transistors on the package while also improving yields because the dies are smaller.

[lifesacardgame]

I'm in my early 50's and I can still remember using rotary phones and the 'wow' when BT advertised the 'In Phone'. BBC Micro at the computer club at school. So glad I grew up in the revolution.

[frankgulla]

Paul, a great summary of the state of electronics, from vacuum tubes to highly integrated circuits and GPUs. Thank you..

[bez]

Great video. Although to add to the Apollo computers you covered, core rope memory would have been an interesting addition. Also, your shirts rock🤙

[Cybercharger]

GPUs are faster than CPUs only in certain tasks

[RichardIresonMusician]

My first experience with a computer was the ICL2903 at Northampton College in the mid '70s. Teletype input and output and punchcards!