The Transistor

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the transistor and discusses how we have become dependant on this relatively small device. According to the paper, the ability of the transistor to adapt and evolve and integrate itself into a variety of other products and devices demonstrates the success of this invention. The paper also takes a look at the history and evolution of this device.

From the Paper:

"Today's chipmakers carve transistors into silicon wafers at the rate of 10 million transistors per month for every person on the planet. While that might seem excessive, consider that every byte of RAM in a computer contains eight transistors (Colvin 56). Now recall that typical computers have between 512 MB and 1 GB of RAM--that's the equivalent of between 4.096 billion and 8 billion transistors, just in a single computer. Look around. Transistors aren't just in computers, they're in every imaginable piece of electronics equipment, as well as a number of unexpected devices. The first consumer product that contained a transistor was the Regency TR-1 radio. It went on sale in OCtober 1954 and promptly sold out. The Regency TR-1 contained a grand and staggering total of 4 transistors (Colvin 56). As the price and size of transistors plummeted manufacturers discovered all manner of applications that could benefit from an added transistor or two million."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Begley, Sharon. "The Transistor." Newsweek 130.22: 25.
• Colvin, Geoffrey. "Confessions of a Transistor Hog." Fortune 143.14 (2001): 56.
• Riordan, Michael. "The Incredible Shrinking Transistor." MIT's Technology Review 100.8 (1997): 46.
• "Transistor." Institute of Materials Science and Applied Research. 18 Apr. 2002. 19 Apr. 2006 <http://www.mtmi.vu.lt/pfk/funkc_dariniai/transistor/index.html>.

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