http://n.yam.com/afp/entertain/200809/20080914779162.html
為網路與數位時代奠基 積體電路五十歲了
法新社╱郭無患 2008-09-14 13:35
（法新社舊金山十三日電）電腦晶片業界昨天慶祝積體電路發明五十週年；積體電路的發明是一大突破，為網際網路與數位時代奠基。
五十年前，年輕的工程師基爾比首度展示他設計的積體電路，當時他在美國德州儀器公司工作，由於沒有足夠休假天數去度假，他當年整個夏天待在公司裡研究設計。
基爾比利用一小片有傳導性的鍺，焊接上電晶體以及其他小零件，將這個焊接組裝稱為「積體電路」（IC）。
另一名工程師諾伊斯也「同時」在飛捷半導體公司設計他自己的積體電路，但他到大約半年後才公開他的創新之作。諾伊斯後來在一九六八年創辦了美國晶片巨擘英特爾公司。
根據史丹佛矽谷資料館專案歷史學者勃林的說法，基爾比是第一位展示積體電路的人，但諾伊斯提出能夠量產的積體電路設計。勃林曾出過一本有關諾伊斯的書。
勃林告訴「法新社」：「在當年，積體電路的時代已經來到」，「當時全世界到處都有人在努力製作類似積體電路的東西」。
諾伊斯和基爾比在歷史上共同享有發明積體電路的榮耀，積體電路讓電子世界整個改觀。
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080913/tc_afp/usitinternetchipkilby_080913161206
Circuit behind the Internet Age turns 50 years old
by Glenn Chapman
Sat Sep 13, 12:12 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - The computer chip industry on Friday celebrated the 50th birthday of the integrated circuit, a breakthrough that set the stage for the Internet and the Digital Age.
A half-century ago a young engineer named Jack Kilby first demonstrated an integrated circuit he designed while working through the summer at his Texas Instruments job because he didn't have enough vacation time for a holiday.
Kilby used a sliver of conductive germanium to connect a transistor and other bits, dubbing the soldered assembly an "integrated circuit" (IC).
Engineer Robert Noyce was designing his own IC "in parallel" at Fairchild Semiconductor but didn't debut his creation until about six months later. Noyce went on to found US chip making giant Intel in 1968.
While Kilby was the first to demonstrate an IC, Noyce came up with a design that could be mass produced, according to Leslie Berlin, project historian for Stanford Silicon Valley Archives and author of a book about Noyce.
"It was an idea whose time had come," Berlin told AFP. "There were efforts all over the world to make something like an integrated circuit."
History gives Noyce and Kilby shared credit for inventing the circuit that transformed the world of electronics.
"The IC was an idea so revolutionary, so life-changing, we don't even remember the world before it came along," Texas Instruments chief executive Rich Templeton said at a ceremony honoring Kilby.
"And we can't imagine life without it."
The year Kilby demonstrated his circuit, computers were colossal machines that filled rooms and were commanded by coded punch cards.
Televisions featured black-and-white pictures and few channels. The only telephones were wired in place. There were no iPods, flat-screen televisions, Internet searches or laptop computers.
Integrated circuits replaced vacuum tubes; bulky bulbs that guzzle electricity, spew heat and burn out.
The circuits became building blocks for microprocessors, the increasingly powerful and compact chips that are the brains behind the Internet and most of today's "smart" electronic devices.
"It's been only 50 years, but think of the dramatic improvements in everything we do around the world today," Intel spokesman Bill Calder told AFP.
"In the scheme of inventions, certainly the integrated circuit has to be one of the greatest inventions of our time. This world of bytes we live in today would not be possible without them."
Berlin says that integrated circuits are at the core of the microchip industry mantra of "smaller, faster, cheaper" and can likely be found in anything with an on-off switch.
Kilby was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 2000 for his invention. It is believed a Nobel Prize would have also been given to Noyce, who died in 1990 at the age of 62. Kilby was 81 when he died in 2005.
"The integrated circuit has proved to be the single most important driver of increased productivity and economic growth in history," said Semiconductor Industry Association president George Scalise.
"The integrated circuit provides the critical technology for countless electronic devices that enable people everywhere to lead more productive lives."
The semiconductor industry is on track to post 265 billion dollars in sales this year, according to Scalise.
Templeton described Kilby as quick to credit successors for turning integrated circuits into the power driving Internet Age technologies.
It is said that Kilby responded to people making "a big fuss" over his work by quoting fellow Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes:
"When I hear that kind of thing, it reminds me of what the beaver told the rabbit as they stood at the base of Hoover Dam: 'No, I didn't build it myself, but it's based on an idea of mine.' "
Texas Instruments is planning a new research center to be christened "Kilby Labs."
"Jack Kilby was a hero, an artist, a philanthropist, a genius and a real believer in the power of the imagination," Templeton said.
"And his invention is a reminder of the responsibility that we, as engineers, have in making ours a better world."
When once asked by a mother what can be done to help children invent new things, Kilby reportedly replied "Read them fairytales."
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