The Chip
Origins of the integrated circuit and the industry structure it created.
Summary
Reid tells the story of the integrated circuit's invention by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor, working independently within months of each other in 1958 and 1959.
The technical problem both solved is what he calls the tyranny of numbers: as circuits became more complex, the number of individual components and the soldered connections between them grew until reliability collapsed, and the industry could see no way past it. Kilby's insight was that all the components could be made from a single material, silicon, and therefore could be made in a single piece. Noyce arrived at the same conclusion and added the planar process, which allowed the connections to be deposited as metal on the surface rather than wired, which is what made mass production possible.
Reid covers the patent dispute between the two companies, which ran for a decade and was resolved by cross-licensing, and he is even-handed about the priority question. He also covers the early markets, particularly the military and the Apollo programme, which bought integrated circuits at prices no commercial customer would pay and thereby funded the manufacturing learning that brought costs down.
The book is from 1984 and Reid wrote it for a general audience. The industry has changed beyond recognition since, but the account of the invention and of how a government customer funded the cost reduction that created the commercial market is accurate and remains the best short treatment.
Key takeaways 7
- The tyranny of numbers, meaning that soldered connections between components made complex circuits unreliable, was the constraint the integrated circuit removed.
- Kilby and Noyce solved the same problem independently within months, which indicates the solution was available to anyone who framed the problem correctly.
- Noyce's planar process allowed connections to be deposited on the surface rather than wired, which is what made mass production possible.
- Military and space programme purchases at prices no commercial customer would pay funded the manufacturing learning that brought costs down.
- A government customer buying early at high prices can create a commercial market by funding the descent down the cost curve.
- The patent dispute ran for a decade and was resolved by cross-licensing, which allowed the industry to develop while the priority question remained unsettled.
- Making all components from a single material was the conceptual move, and everything else followed from it.
Who should read it
Readers wanting the accessible account of the integrated circuit's invention and of how early government purchasing created the commercial market.
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