50 years ago, the first microprocessor available on the market was born: the Intel 4004.
Originally, this microprocessor was an order placed with Intel by the Busicom company to power its prototype engineering computer, the Busicom 141-PF.Intel’s engineering teams adapted the original designs of 12 custom chips and designed a set of four chips – including the 4004 processor.
This 4004, the size of a human fingernail, offered computing power of 92,600 operations per second at a maximum frequency of 740 kHz, exactly the same performance as the first electronic computer built in 1946, filling an entire room and weighing 30 tons. The 4004s came out in a 16-pin package. This was the first time that all the functions of a processor were combined on a single integrated circuit, making it the first microprocessor in history and in the industry. The 4004 was not a revolution in terms of performance at the time. However, its design made it possible to envisage a considerable reduction in the cost of manufacturing computers from its launch. The Busicom company had exclusive rights to the 4004 but the company saw the potential of the 4004 and renegotiated the contract with Busicom to allow the microprocessor market to expand. From then on, the acceleration never stopped: the following year Intel launched the first 8-bit microprocessor, the 8008, followed in 1974 by the microprocessor that would be decisive in the democratization of microcomputers, the 8080.
