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It's incredibly humbling to be reminded how young this field of our is: this site and everything its presence implies (about the Internet, global communication,

It's incredibly humbling to be reminded how young this field of our is: this site and everything its presence implies (about the Internet, global communication, computers) would not exist were it not for the work of a very-recently-deceased engineer. Very few other fields (aerospace and modern pharmacology, among them) can say the same thing.

cubefox 4y ago
It is interesting to think about about alternative history here: If microchip technology had never been invented for some reason, what would we have developed instead? What is the next best computing technology?
- woodruffw 4y ago
  I think we would have ended up here anyways: to assume that the silicon transistor would not have been invented without Morris Tanenbaum is to succumb to the Great Man theory[1]. The reality is that Morris was a brilliant man whose life intersected in the right place and time with the arc of history; we should celebrate his life and contributions for that, and not because we think that we'd be stuck in 1950 without them. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - phkahler 4y ago
    Not sure but I think the question is more like "what if physics didn't allow transistors?" rather than if one guy didn't invent them. What's the next best thing, and how far would we have pushed it?
    - hutzlibu 4y ago
      If transistors would not be possible, then lots of other stuff would not exist, like solar panels or digital cameras. Handy electricity conversion, etc. I think alternativly we would have miniaturized vacuum tubes much more, the ones that powered computers before transistors (and made them huge) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum-tube_computer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum-tube_computer
      - djmips 4y ago
        Surprising to me - size reduced vacuum tubes happened and it's still being worked on in as I understand it. There are some quite miniature working vacuum tubes - if you search you'll find more information.
        hutzlibu 4y ago
        They have the big advantage, that they are not sensitive to radiation, like transistors are.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - intrasight 4y ago
      > what if physics didn't allow transistors?" Yes, because technology is discovered more than invented, this is a more interesting question. What are some others? What if biology didn't allow anesthetics? Or antibiotics? What if geology hadn't split up Pangea? Is there life because of a hospitable environment, or does a hospitable environment exist because of life? Just a quick list. I'm sure readers can add.
  - hyperthesis 4y ago
    Inventions often seem to be simultaneous, as if the time had come for this problem to be recognized, and for the solution to be possible. However, I do think in some cases, a "great man" can make an invention earlier than otherwise - we should measure genius in units of time. We wouldn't be stuck in 1950 without him... but maybe we'd now be in 2018 without him. OTOH the "great man" fallacy encourages the intense and unpredictable work required for many inventions - why undermine that?
  - dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
    You are correct. If I recollect the electric bulb had at least 10 inventors. In fact one of them was an Englishman who had patented it 2 years in England before Thomas Edison had patented it in America. The radio transmission/reception had two other inventors other than Marconi.
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  Vacuum tubes was the thing, I'd imagine there would be more of that. That, or mentats.
  - mdiesel 4y ago
    Mentats would be cool, but don't think it's possible until after the butlerian revolution. Before then computers are just easier
- piersj225 4y ago
  This is something the Russians worked on, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_integrator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_integrator I've been told analogue computers got pretty far too, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer
  - zdw 4y ago
    The Computer History Museum has a surprisingly large exhibit on these if you ever get to visit: https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/analog-computers/3/intro https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/analog-computers/... It's pretty fascinating, and a great example of working within the limitations of hardware at the time.
- petra 4y ago
  Possibilities: Mems vacuum tubes. Nano electromechanical relays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoelectromechanical_relay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoelectromechanical_relay
- sawyna 4y ago
  I don't think anyone has ever explored an alternative here. Transistors came out of exploratory research that Bell Labs funded and as the other comments say, this indeed happened very recently! I suppose the silicon industry and the digital age built up so fast that we didn't really have the incentive to explore the alternative?
- kens 4y ago
  Nowadays, people think of just vacuum tubes and then transistors, but in the 1960s there were a lot of different technologies being used. For example, superconducting cryotrons, magnetic core logic, parametric-phase-locked-oscillator logic, microwave logic, electroluminescent-photoconductor logic, and tunnel diodes. If transistors didn't pan out, there were lots of other technologies that could have taken over. Magnetic core logic (not to be confused with magnetic core storage) in particular was used in several computers and seemed poised for success until advances in transistors killed it off. More: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-vacuum-tubes-forgotten-rival https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-vacuum-tubes-forgotten-rival
- smaddox 4y ago
  Interesting hypothetical. If semiconductors were never discovered, I suspect we would have kept shrinking vacuum tubes, eventually down to the point (which has now been demonstrated) that atmospheric pressure is sufficiently low pressure to operate at.

cubefox 4y ago

It is interesting to think about about alternative history here: If microchip technology had never been invented for some reason, what would we have developed instead? What is the next best computing technology?

woodruffw 4y ago
I think we would have ended up here anyways: to assume that the silicon transistor would not have been invented without Morris Tanenbaum is to succumb to the Great Man theory[1]. The reality is that Morris was a brilliant man whose life intersected in the right place and time with the arc of history; we should celebrate his life and contributions for that, and not because we think that we'd be stuck in 1950 without them. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_man_theory
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- phkahler 4y ago
  Not sure but I think the question is more like "what if physics didn't allow transistors?" rather than if one guy didn't invent them. What's the next best thing, and how far would we have pushed it?
  - hutzlibu 4y ago
    If transistors would not be possible, then lots of other stuff would not exist, like solar panels or digital cameras. Handy electricity conversion, etc. I think alternativly we would have miniaturized vacuum tubes much more, the ones that powered computers before transistors (and made them huge) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum-tube_computer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum-tube_computer
    - djmips 4y ago
      Surprising to me - size reduced vacuum tubes happened and it's still being worked on in as I understand it. There are some quite miniature working vacuum tubes - if you search you'll find more information.
      - hutzlibu 4y ago
        They have the big advantage, that they are not sensitive to radiation, like transistors are.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - intrasight 4y ago
    > what if physics didn't allow transistors?" Yes, because technology is discovered more than invented, this is a more interesting question. What are some others? What if biology didn't allow anesthetics? Or antibiotics? What if geology hadn't split up Pangea? Is there life because of a hospitable environment, or does a hospitable environment exist because of life? Just a quick list. I'm sure readers can add.
- hyperthesis 4y ago
  Inventions often seem to be simultaneous, as if the time had come for this problem to be recognized, and for the solution to be possible. However, I do think in some cases, a "great man" can make an invention earlier than otherwise - we should measure genius in units of time. We wouldn't be stuck in 1950 without him... but maybe we'd now be in 2018 without him. OTOH the "great man" fallacy encourages the intense and unpredictable work required for many inventions - why undermine that?
- dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
  You are correct. If I recollect the electric bulb had at least 10 inventors. In fact one of them was an Englishman who had patented it 2 years in England before Thomas Edison had patented it in America. The radio transmission/reception had two other inventors other than Marconi.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
Vacuum tubes was the thing, I'd imagine there would be more of that. That, or mentats.
- mdiesel 4y ago
  Mentats would be cool, but don't think it's possible until after the butlerian revolution. Before then computers are just easier
piersj225 4y ago
This is something the Russians worked on, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_integrator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_integrator I've been told analogue computers got pretty far too, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer
- zdw 4y ago
  The Computer History Museum has a surprisingly large exhibit on these if you ever get to visit: https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/analog-computers/3/intro https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/analog-computers/... It's pretty fascinating, and a great example of working within the limitations of hardware at the time.
petra 4y ago
Possibilities: Mems vacuum tubes. Nano electromechanical relays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoelectromechanical_relay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoelectromechanical_relay
sawyna 4y ago
I don't think anyone has ever explored an alternative here. Transistors came out of exploratory research that Bell Labs funded and as the other comments say, this indeed happened very recently! I suppose the silicon industry and the digital age built up so fast that we didn't really have the incentive to explore the alternative?
kens 4y ago
Nowadays, people think of just vacuum tubes and then transistors, but in the 1960s there were a lot of different technologies being used. For example, superconducting cryotrons, magnetic core logic, parametric-phase-locked-oscillator logic, microwave logic, electroluminescent-photoconductor logic, and tunnel diodes. If transistors didn't pan out, there were lots of other technologies that could have taken over. Magnetic core logic (not to be confused with magnetic core storage) in particular was used in several computers and seemed poised for success until advances in transistors killed it off. More: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-vacuum-tubes-forgotten-rival https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-vacuum-tubes-forgotten-rival
smaddox 4y ago
Interesting hypothetical. If semiconductors were never discovered, I suspect we would have kept shrinking vacuum tubes, eventually down to the point (which has now been demonstrated) that atmospheric pressure is sufficiently low pressure to operate at.