How do you move from it being a collection of transistors to it being a fully functional computer?

Question

How do you move from it being a collection of transistors to it being a fully functional computer?

In: 20

Answer 1

A computer is basically a Rube Goldberg machine of transistors.

In the old days you pick up a newspaper and get dozens of bits of news.

Today to get news – it’s relayed from one device to another device – dozens of times around the world. It’s processed by multiple big companies, and goes through incredibly convoluted processes.

A typical Rube Goldberg machine might have hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of parts.

A modern computer chip takes that several orders of magnitudes higher by having billions, sometimes tens of billions of transistors.

Often these are insanely complicated – and there are glitches that come up. They can be difficult to solve because of all the steps involved. This can result in viruses, hacks, and more.