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"By the mid to late 60's, although many of us were trying to figure out how to build a computer on a chip, the yield from the semiconductor manufacturing process was still too low for it to be practical." -Ted Hoff
Who Invented the Microprocessor? Ted Hoff
Born in 1937, Dr. Marcian E. "Ted" Hoff Jr. got his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1962. His skills combined with his "there has got to be a better way" philosophy led him to the invention of the microprocessor just two years after joining Intel in 1968.
Hoff was employee number 12 at the company assigned to work with minicomputers. In June, 1969, he was asked to liaison with a Japanese company called Busicom. Busicom approached Intel with a design for a new series of calculators. After reviewing the specifications, Hoff decided that it was not good business for Intel to set a manufacturing process for every specific customer that Intel may have in the future. This would not only be impractical for Intel but also expensive for the customer. He felt that programming through read-only memory and general-purpose registers could replace the separate (i.e., discrete) components the Busicom engineers had requested. It took nine months before a team of Intel engineers, led by Frederico Faggin, could turn Hoff's ideas into hardware. The Intel 4004 4-bit microprocessor was completed in 1970. In exchange for a significant reduction on the manufacturing price of the chips and return of $60,000 invested by Intel in its development, Busicom renounced to its rights,and the 4004 chip was launched to the market in November 1971.  Intel ad in the November 15, 1971 issue of Electronic News |
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