The scientific name is microprocessor. "A microprocessor? What's that?" you may rightly ask. And how can something have much effect on daily life when most people do not even know what it is?

But its effects touch the lives of more and more people throughout the world. In fact, today microprocessing is a billion-dollar industry!

This technology is used in so many products now that a British government spokesman said: "There is no certainty about job loss if we do apply the microelectronic technology. There is absolute certainty about job loss if we do not." Without using this new technology, a company or even a country would find it difficult to compete with the products of those who do use it.

But just what is a microprocessor? How has this relatively new technology, which has been called "a revolution," affected our lives?

The Microprocessor:

A typical microprocessor is made of silicon, one of the most common elements in the earth's crust. And a hint of the size of a microprocessor comes from the prefix micro, meaning very small. A microprocessor is usually just a "slice," or "chip," of silicon about one quarter of an inch (6 mm) square!

However, its size belies its significance. Contained in this very small chip are many of the vital functions of a computer! Just one of today's microprocessors is the equivalent in circuitry of most of the vital functions of the bulky computers of 25 years ago. Many thousands of circuits can be fitted onto one chip, and their capacity is constantly being improved. Indeed, one such circuit as small as a pinhead can do the work of many conventional circuits.

Microprocessors are relatively inexpensive to make. This means that computerlike functions can be put into a vast range of everyday products previously only within the range of expensive computers.

Microprocessor History:

The earliest computers had tubes as key components. These were large, expensive and unwieldy to produce. But in 1948, the transistor was invented, replacing tubes. It was much smaller, more reliable and cheaper.

At first, transistors were made with germanium. Within a few years, though, silicon replaced germanium to make transistors more efficient. This led to the next step of the "semiconductor integrated circuit," a technique for making whole circuits with key components (such as transistors) on a single wafer, or "chip," of silicon. This process made miniaturization possible.

Then, space exploration and military agencies had a need for very small, light, power-conserving and yet complex electronic controls for their satellites and missiles. Thus, research was done in this direction. It succeeded. Whereas in 1963 one silicon chip could hold the equivalent of eight transistors, by 1978 a single chip could hold one quarter of a million of them!

Thus, by the early 1970's miniaturization techniques had advanced enough to put an entire computer onto just a few tiny chips. The microprocessor "revolution" was born, and uses for these chips have mushroomed since.

Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/401144/goldenfx.html