Project Proposal

On this website, I intend to explore the development and impacts of the Intel 4004 microprocessor. I will stress how it has influenced the technology and our ordinary life. The reason of designing this interactive website is to serve as a source in this field for a broader audience. This research gives insights about the people involved in the development of the Intel 4004. I believe that the visuals and concise descriptions will serve the visitors to have more understanding and engagement!

Stories of Ted Hoff and William Aspray, the key figures who made important contributions to microprocessors, are central to this research. With these figures, I intended to provide different perspectives on the development of microprocessors and their broad influence on technology and society. To ensure the content remains simple, I made the detailed technical aspects optional, which are available through the links for visitors like you, interested in deeper exploration.

Initially, I considered completing this website with a video summary. I thought that it was required to use Adobe products in the project. However, after receiving feedback, I change my attention to one medium to ensure a thorough exploration. Therefore, I concentrated just on developing this website by bux.osu.edu due to its flexibility and creativity, different from u.osu.edu offers. This preference is based on my previous experiences with the desire of controlling over the research's presentation!

I believe that this project consists of not only an academic perspective but also a bridge connecting the past with the present along with the demonstration of how the Intel's invention of 4004 created the digital age. By this website, I hope to arouse curiosity about the interaction between technology and societal evolution and make the journey of the microprocessor accessible to everyone!

Researcher's Statement

My research explores the evolution and impact of the Intel 4004 microprocessor, with an additional focus on the development of personal computing. Through a careful examination of archival materials, narratives, articles, and first-hand accounts, the work below aims to uncover the complicated historical/technical aspects that shaped this important period in the computing history!

As I detail my research in the following sections, my journey into this research began with an interest in understanding the origins and the implications of the Intel 4004. Extensively using the Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) as my primary resource, I went through lots of different articles, oral histories, etc. that provided valuable information. Moreover, I think that this wiki was crucial in narrowing my interest/focus to the early stages of microprocessor technology. I believe that the most important aspect of my research was my journey in the archives, gathering and differentiating between the right/wrong information. In the process, I encountered interesting stories of individuals like Gilbert Hyatt, credited with the first microprocessor patent, and the influential roles of Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, and Stephen Wozniak in the personal computer evolution! The most significant turning point in my research was my discovery of William Aspray’s article which I detailed in the following sections. His extensive knowledge and perspective as a historian including his technical knowledge provided critical points to my research. Some of these points led me to change my assumptions and thoughts about specific elements in the timeline. Therefore, I can say that his article both enriched the content of my work and emphasized how important sourcing and narrative are in historical research!

Finally, my research also extends beyond the development and covers the global dynamics of the tech industry and the role of Japan in the semiconductor industry including the contrasting success and challenges of Japan both in hardware and software.

My Archival Journey

I started my archival journey with a “wiki-style” website called ethw.org. This wiki has thousands of articles, first-hand accounts, oral histories, and archival documents referring to the history of technology. The editors of ETHW highlight that it is not a “how-does-technology-work” site, instead its scope is historical and aims to explain how the technology was developed. In that sense, I decided that ETHW would be a great source for my research about the Intel 4004!

Initially, I proceeded with searching for the articles and first-hand accounts that can help me understand the subject and answer my “why?”, “how?” questions throughout my journey. But before that I decided to identify my area of interest in a more specific manner. Because my area of interest was a bit broad about the general effects of the initial development of Intel 4004. As my journey in ETHW continued, based on the other sources (which I will mention in a following part as objects in details), I ended up with “The early stages of microprocessors”, including “The significant impacts of microprocessors and their role in the beginning of personal computing.”

Valuables I obtained through the MP1

My major project one (MP1) starts with the anticipation of engineers that circuits could be shrunk down to a small chip, earning the prefix “micro” in the late 1960s. In fact, Gilbert Hyatt, an electrical engineer, and scientist, was credited with the first microprocessor patent which it was later invalidated. Intriguingly, despite the early patent in the 1960s, the first microprocessor wasn’t introduced until 1971. During the years Gilbert obtained the patent for his idea, Intel focused on manufacturing memory chips for computers and calculators. In 1969, when a Japanese company requested Intel to create a set of calculator chips, Intel engineers Marcian Hoff, Federico Faggin, and Stan Mazor designed the plans for a powerful new chip. This chip would eventually be named the microprocessor. And this is how the first microprocessor, the "Intel 4004," came into existence. Later, in 1974, Intel released the "8080," a second-generation microprocessor. In 1975, MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) introduced the first affordable computer, Altair 8800, based on the Intel 8080. This marked the initial spark in the invention of personal computers! When it is said personal computers, the first things come to the mind are today’s desktops and laptops. However, the cell phones, tablets, and other devices with different computing capabilities are considered as personal computers too! Creating today’s personal computer required the creativity of thousands of inventors over the course of decades. Fun fact, in the 1950s, journalists jokingly predicted that someday we would all have computers in our homes!

I think that this selection process was very important in my research since it is marking the transition from a broad interest in technology's evolution to a focused investigation into specific moments and decisions that altered the course of technological advancement. And I found these objects as gateways to the deeper insights. Diving into these carefully chosen resources allowed me to have a detailed examination of the milestones that defined the dawn of personal computing, setting the stage for the presentation of my findings.

If you are interested, you can find a great 10-min video below on how the Altair 8800 Kickstarted the PC Revolution and Birthed Microsoft and Apple:

So, why didn't Intel invent the Personal Computer?

Mazor interestingly starts his first-hand account with Target drops carrying the Kindle, computer/reader made by Amazon. The reason he gives is that Amazon as a retailer competes with Target. So logically, Target doesn't want to support and promote a competitor. Then he continues with the early history of Intel by mentioning Intel was just a semiconductor memory company and the only use for memory was in computers and accordingly the only customers were computer manufacturers. Since Intel had mainly computer companies as customers and relied on them for their prime and only business, it didn't want to offend its customer base and “go into” the computer business, competing with its customers. Intel’s marketing group focused on promoting specialized computers in a variety of marketplaces where those computers would be too expensive. As a result, hundreds of customers developed their own specialized systems, and many of them produced only hundreds or a few thousand systems per year. Fun fact, he mentions that he was primarily responsible for pursuing the entertainment market! Those include pinball machines, arcade games, smart TVs, etc. In the rest of his writing, he talks about several Intel employees (including the Board Chairman) leaving to help start Apple Computer and it seemed that Intel executives were able to benefit from emerging PC market without Intel directly participating. And eventually, Intel’s microprocessors became a dominant force in general purpose computing!

A shift in the research made a world of difference

With all this valuable knowledge and answers I collected, I was ready to deepen my research and focus on a more specific part that I am highly interested in. I wholeheartedly believed that the most important part in “creating” an innovation is the first “spark”. Every individual has numerous sparks throughout their lives. But the trick is to transform that spark into something real and this requires great commitment and hope. The facts I have gathered throughout the MP1 strengthen my opinion about “the most important part in innovation.” Because, just the idea of microprocessors by Gilbert Hyatt became the center of most of the technological innovations today! On the other side, I believe that it is also crucial to be capable of looking to those sparks from a whole different angle. This way, that initial personal spark will become something more objective, carrying the owner of that spark to an “innovator.” Using this perspective, I decided to further my research proceeding with an article that approaches to the point I am curious about from a perspective by a historian with the technical knowledge.

Therefore, in my second project, I thoroughly explored and analyzed the focal article by William Aspray, “The Intel 4004: What Constituted Invention?” published in the journal “IEEE Annals of the History of Computing” in September 1997. This article investigates the origins of the Intel 4004 microprocessor and its creation. To Aspray, this innovation is not only credited to Marcian Ted Hoff, but also Federico Faggin and Tadashi Saasaki. I think that he successfully narrated this collaboration by detailing the relationship between each individual he mentions throughout the article. He does that by examining the historical context in which the 4004 was developed and shares the views both from outside and inside Intel. Besides that, Aspray tries to fix the wrongly known facts like Intel did not originally embrace the microprocessor as an important part of its product line, or Ted Hoff had a relatively minor role in the hard work of making the 4004 a commercial reality, etc. with proper references. Therefore, if you wonder the reality in the background of this invention, I can easily say that it is a great article both for research and general knowledge.

In the project, I mentioned about the several key sources that power Aspray’s article. I think that sourcing is very crucial in this kind of articles since a tiny error may cause misinformation to spread.

Key sources from ETHW

In the project two, I shared my opinion about my decisions in choosing the sources if I were doing the same research as Aspray. I mentioned the advantages of adding a possible short review on 4004’s revolutionary impact on the technology and personal computing. Moreover, I talked about a research method and its phases detailing the nodes that helped me to see the connections and relationships involved in the project. Based on that method, I highlighted specific nodes like “Digital revolution of the mid-90s” or “global and political dynamics at that time” that provide a broader context into Aspray’s article. In addition, I would also like to stress the “Cultural and Social Landmarks of the Mid-90s”, especially the rise of pop culture phenomena, as a medium of the the era's transformative nature. This was a time when the internet began to influence daily life.

Additionally, to answer another important question that you visitors may ask, I mentioned another article explaining how the collaboration between hardware and software innovators shape the evolution of the first personal computers. The article is written by G. Glenn Henry, an IBM fellow and the former Senior VP and CTO for DELL Technologies. His article provided a great view showing the progress from mainframe computers to the microprocessor’s dominance in the personal computers! Also I added a historical analysis of the personal computer software industry with a focus on Microsoft using the article “Not Only Microsoft: The Maturing of the Personal Computer Software Industry” written by Martin Campbell-Kelly, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick specialized in the history of computing. He mainly talks about the crucial roles of Autodesk and Microsoft in the software industry. Continuing with Autodesk’s market strategy, he states the success of Microsoft’s MS-DOS operating system enabled Microsoft to invest in developing application software without profitability guarantees which then he considers as a move that ultimately solidified its dominance in the software market.

Finally, since I believe that Japan played a major role in the development of Intel 4004, I talked about Japan’s situation in the chip industry. Japan has been known for its failure in computer software but had a great success in the computer hardware. Japan also implemented policies and encouraged institutions to support both hardware and software sectors. However, they experienced different outcomes due to mismatched institutional arrangements between successful hardware production and software sector requirements. And therefore, the disparity between Japan’s policies and global software market demands resulted in falling in computer software despite excelling in computer hardware.

Primary Sources

• The Surprising Story of the First Microprocessors
  The pioneering work of Federico Faggin, Marcian "Ted" Hoff Jr., and Stanley Mazor on the Intel 4004 microprocessor is highlighted in various documents and recognitions, such as their induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1996. Their creation of the Intel 4004 is detailed in "The Surprising Story of the First Microprocessors" and further discussed on the ETHW website, offering firsthand accounts of the development and impact of this groundbreaking technology.
• How we made the microprocessor by Faggin Federico
  Coming directly from Federico Faggin, one of the creators of the Intel 4004, this source provides firsthand insights into the development process, making it a primary source.
• Oral History: William Aspray
  The oral history interview with William Aspray on ETHW is considered a primary source. Because it consists of firsthand accounts from Aspray himself, detailing his experiences, insights, and observations directly related to his work and contributions to the field of computing history. I can easily say that this source was very valuable in my research as it captured his personal narratives, perspectives, and historical contexts.
• The photo of Brent Schlender, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs
  The photograph of Bill Gates and Paul Allen is a primary source as it is direct evidence of a moment in time.

Secondary Sources

• The Intel 4004 Microprocessor: What Constituted Invention?
  This is an analysis and interpretation of the events surrounding the creation of the Intel 4004, making it a secondary source.
• From Mainframes to Microprocessors
  This article reviews and analyzes the transition from mainframe computers to microprocessors, offering interpretations and insights rather than original documentation or firsthand evidence that's why it is a secondary source.

How I integrated those sources into my project

In my research, I used stories from people who were there, like Federico Faggin, and expert opinions, like those in William Aspray's interview, to understand how the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was produced. These stories gave me a direct insight of the past. Then, I looked at studies and articles mentioning about these events to get different perspectives and availed them in this context. All data I gathered helped me to share more information by seeing the big picture of how this invention changed technology and society!