3 ms·

Back in time you could buy a 1-bit microprocessor: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_MC14500B https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_MC14500B

• edgyquant 3y ago
  Makes sense as a simple on off controller. Surprise they don’t still make them
  • monocasa 3y ago
    1 bit CPUs don't really make sense anymore because their gate count niche doesn't really exist anymore in discrete chips. The I/O pads around the perimeter of a chip haven't been able to shrink nearly as much as the logic within even on very mature process nodes in the hundreds of nanometers. Basically there's so much die area that for analog reasons can't be shrunk much taken up by simply getting on and off of the die that logic in the few thousand gate count range is basically free. That's why you see 8 bit MCUs with a useful set of peripherals even in the ~$0.03/ea range where almost all the cost is in testing and packaging the dies.
    • jacquesm 3y ago
      Which is incredible! Just think about it: a fully functional processor for less than the price of your average candy.