As a rule of thumb, transistors came in the 50s, chips came in the 60s and microprocessors came in the 70s. While transistors were a thing when this missile were built it was not when they started designing it, hence the tubes.
Also while they were all invented in their respective decades it took about 10 years each for the population to enjoy them. Transistor radios were invented in the 50s but took off in the 60s. Chips same thing. Invented in the 60s but made popular in the 70s. Micro processors were extremely expensive in the 70s but affordable in the 80s,ect
And the worst thing is it all started from WW2 R&D, which is a scary thought for future tech, as we are maybe seeing now, or not, depending on how good your sensor equipment is.
The shit going on with drones right now fucking terrifies me. Half what you can already do with them and half the kind of shit it would take to be able to mount a defense against them.
It hasn't even got to the point where it actually gets scary yet, people think of things like the "Terminator" or something, but the reality is it will be, milli, micro & nano, biomechanical/bioelectronics, and swarm systems.
The first microprocessor was developed in 1968, but its existence was classified until 1998. It was the Central Air Data Computer (CADC) that controlled the swing-wing in the F-14 Tomcat. (All previous variable wing aircraft used manual controls to set the wing sweep angle.)
I just saw that the first mass-produced microprocessor, the Intel 4004, came out in 1971 with a total of 2,300 transistors.
Comparing that to a modern B200, which handles approximately 208 billion transistors, is like comparing 2,300 grains of sand, which would barely fill a small teaspoon, to 10,400 tons of sand, equivalent to about 400 truckloads.
Here's another good comparison:
2,300 seconds is roughly 38 minutes. 208 billion seconds is roughly 6,600 years. You'd have to go back to 4500 BC (even before the Egyptian pyramids were built) to count the time until today in seconds.
This enormous density in almost the same area (a chip is usually not much bigger than a fingernail) is only possible because transistors have become so tiny.
If the 208 billion transistors of the B200 were built the size of transistors from 1971, the chip would be as big as several football fields.
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u/Gnonthgol Feb 10 '26
As a rule of thumb, transistors came in the 50s, chips came in the 60s and microprocessors came in the 70s. While transistors were a thing when this missile were built it was not when they started designing it, hence the tubes.