Intel 4004 is probably not a name many people use in everyday life anymore. However, it is the name of the world’s first commercially available microprocessor that is now celebrating 50 years since its launch.
Today, Intel has a very special reason to celebrate. 50 years ago, on November 15, 1971, the manufacturer launched the Intel 4004 processor. This was by far the first commercial microprocessor. The device that came to start the snowball effect, the result of which is the processors we all use today.
What today’s society would have looked like if microprocessors had not been available on such a broad front can only be speculated on. It is clear, however, that we have the Intel 4004 to thank for its role as the absolute spearhead.
Thanks to the Intel 4004, computers went from being something that took up entire rooms to being something that families could have at home in the living room. Companies were able to give their employees an incredibly powerful tool compared to what had existed before. Now we have come to the point where microprocessors are part of a large number of products we take for granted.
Intel has accomplished a great deal in the last 50 years. Most recently, the manufacturer launched its latest processor architecture in the form of Alder Lake. An architecture whose performance has impressed many, even if the units themselves like to get a little warm. How Alder Lake and its hybrid architecture will feel in future processors like the legacy of the Intel 4004 is something that remains to be seen.
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