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Interview :: Miscellaneous |
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The Past, The Present, The Future |
Current rating: 0 |
by Anna V. Epelbaum
Email: aepelbaum (nospam) yahoo.com (verified)
Phone: (217) 359-3619
Address: 302 S. Second St., # 711, Champaign, IL 61820 |
10 Mar 2004
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This is the story of one of the most fascinating invention in the history of American technology, which is delivered into this article "from the mouth of the horse".
There are also some words in conclusion:
1. The official version, maintained in the USA: " The real inventor of microprocessor is unknown!";
2. Nobel Prize in Physics of 2000, which was awarded for achievements in computers, and communications' development didn't mention the word "microprocessor". The inventor of pocket calculator, the device much less important than microcomputer, is one of this Nobel Prize's winners;
3. The world name for microprocessors - The Best and The Most Widely Utilized Technological World's Invention of The 20th Century! |
The Past, The Present, The Future.
If one tries to look over the history of computers the name Wayne D. Pickette would pop up, whether the search is done over Internet or through corresponding books. The story of the appearance of microprocessors, which, practically created Silicon Valley's, California's, and the entire USA technological image, as we know it today, is one of the most fascinating stories of American technology. This story is also "very much American", as it is mirroring the very destructive prejudice, which are, unfortunately, still so alive in American life.
The main participant of this story is now residing in Champaign, IL. So, here is this story from "the mouth of the horse":
"I began to study electronics as the age of 13", - told Wayne D. Pickette, -
"because I wished to use electronic technology to improve the availability of information to students. I met the Wood Shop Instructor at Live Oak High School, whose son was a Ham Radio Operator.
Mr. Rice was, therefore, interested in establishing electronic study at Live Oak High. I agreed to collect signatures on a petition for an electronics course. When Mr. Rice was ready to present the proposal he asked me for the signed petition. I told him it was locked in my locker in the school. I borrowed his keys to get into the school, while there I also checked out a business computer which had been placed into the principal’s outer office for the senior statistics class to use.
When I returned to Mr. Rice, he did not even notice I had been gone for four hours! He was busy in his garage workshop.
Around the same chronological time, I found also that television could have been utilized, if a buffer box was available to allow scrolling of the picture to access quarters of the page. I found that scrolling could have been accomplished by slipping the video sync back and forth on the video page. As I learned, I define the components necessary. I began by using a Super-8 Movie Camera with a single-step accessory. I mounted the Camera on a pole above a frame system set up to hold each page of a book at a preset focus level directly under the camera lens.
A detenting slide mechanism provided for even and odd page capture. Once I had a reel of Super-8 film developed I then scanned each frame with a Vidicon tube, once the video was recorded on a segment of tape I proceeded to build a magnetic record of the books. I experimented with video buffer box utilizing delay lines to hold the video frame for recirculative video. A refresh rate of once per .4 second was established, allowing the computer to share the TV channel with up to 64 receivers all with individualized video.
In 1966 I purchased an IBM DISK Drive at a surplus sale for IBM employees, I purchased a new disk pack from a computer supply house in San Jose, California. On this disk pack drive where I began to store frames after modifying the read-write electronics to store black & white video as on/off dots & dashes as signified by the video levels. I found that I could reproduce the images from the disk after some time about six months.
Television did not have the resolution to show pictures contained in the books, and since I was limited to monochrome, there was no color at the time within my economic grasp. As my need for storage increased, I found that double-sided tape would afford me the halving of tape changes to access more video. After some investigation, I selected mu-metal foil as the inter-layer between magnetic tape layers. Also the interlayer would allow me to utilize thinner tape in fact the foil stabilized 0.5 mil tape, which at the current technology had a tendency to stretch causing distortion of the recorded signal.
I filed a Patent Search concerning double-sided tape manufacturing techniques. About six weeks after I filed the search, my parents' telephone rang in the middle of a day, I answered the telephone, a voice said," Wayne Pickette?",- I replied, “This is he.” The voice then said, “I am a lawyer, I represent a professor at the University of South Carolina, and, if you do not cease and desist what you are doing, I shall sue your parents out of the house and town!” I stared at the telephone in astonishment and horror as the person slammed the received down on his end.
Of course, I filed no further patent's papers, concerning double-sided tape. I was using some digital logic to control various functions of my televising system. To simulate analog circuitry I had a version of ecap, a program written in FORTRAN, which simulated electronic circuitry. It became evident that trips to Berkeley to utilize the 1620 computer in the basement of Birge Hall (The Mathematics Building) were pretty difficult. Also that the students were raising a clamor because my simulation runs were increasingly encroaching on their time. I told my father that I felt I could use a computer of my own.
My father said he did not understand what I was doing at all, he wanted an engineer to speak to me to assist him in making this decision. I agreed to show the engineer what I was doing. The engineer and I ended our meeting after several arguments about my use of some backward transistor arrangements to generate stable low-voltage references. The engineer was adamant that such things were not to be done!
The engineer stormed out, slamming the front door. I though for sure I had blown my chances for a computer. A few days later my father came to me saying, “Go, find your computer”. I was esthetic to say the least.
I began to search for my own computer. I reviewed mini-computer specifications from several companies, finally settling on three or four to see at the WESCON show in early summer. I had received several tickets to the WESCON (Western Electric Show and Convention) show through my mail. I looked over the FORTRAN e-cap program. Selecting one particular loop to integrate gained capacitance over time in a variable frequency circuit. I copied this FORTRAN code group into a header and trailer that would allow it to run as a loop. I selected this loop to test the computers.
The IBM 1620 took 1.4 hours to complete one iteration of the loop, I would purchase the cheapest computer that could beat that performance. I returned to my project it would be a couple of weeks before I wrote a paper, describing the system operation, which I present to my social studies instructor. He looked it over. He then agreed to assist me to design improved courses around up to date information as well as challenging goals. A few copies of how students could do individual progressive study based on the five rules of information interchange, up to data information and educationally aggressive students were distrubuted to various teachers.
Most of the other teachers to my dismay ran almost screaming in terror at the mere mention of a computer in the classroom! I was sorely depressed; several teachers had gone to the school board to stop the experimental courses of social studies. The social studies instructor vowed to continue as best he could the experiments after viewing the results, that student achievement went up!
To improve my depression, I read a science fiction book by Isaac Asimov: " I- robot." I was intrigued by the concept presented by this book, after the short consideration I was sure that within 75 years these beings could be created, assuming that the technology would be pushed a bit. I began to make a list of the individual sub-systems, which would complete a humanoid robot. First on the list were the supposed 300 computers., which, I surmised, it would take to provide the simultaneous operation necessary to operate a humanoid Robot in a natural way. I surmised that each computer should be no larger than my thumb with the thumbnail itself as the CPU and the remainder of the volume as memory and communications. I also considered the skeleton, power system, sight and balance.
Most of these considerations, as I realized, required the great technological improvement to be useful in constructing a robot. Just as I was thinking about all this, one arrived mailing unit just caught my eye. Fairchild Semiconductor was announcing their 74181 Arithmetic Element. I studied this device and the other shift registers, latches, and multiplexors that were associated with MSI (medium scale integration). The day of the show arrived, my father with a $10,000.00 cashier’s check in his jacket's pocket and I, myself, traveled to San Francisco.
We presented our tickets at the registration counter, our badges were prepared. We then entered the Cow Palace, the location of the 1967 Wescon Show. I went directly to the mini-computer exhibitor’s booths. At my request to run my measuring loop on their computer two companies Hewlett Packard and Ferranti, declined it, while Digital Equipment and Elbit (an Israeli company) accepted. The Elbit, a 16-bit computer, ran the test loop the fastest at 4.39 minutes per time segment, while the two PDP-8, 12-bit computers from DEC, ran 7.39, and 15.49 minutes respectively for the PDP-8 and PDP-8/S. All of them hugely surmounted the 1620 at 1.4 hours! I selected the PDP-8/S mainly because of the price, $ 10,000.00.
Once the DEC people realized I was a serious customer, they became excited that a 17-year-old actually was purchasing a computer. They told me that, if I would let them take my picture hauling the computer to our car in a shopping basket., they would reward me with extra memory and high speed paper tape.
After the study of the PDP-8, I realized that the 74181 and PDP-8 shared identical instruction sets. Suddenly into my head popped the concept for a computer on a chip! I grabbed my graphical pad and logic template., and then I began to create a block schematic for the computer on a chip.
My design resulted in 19 MSI chips to create a PDP-8/S with the improvements of parallel execution, hardware microinstruction, and expanded memory addressing.
I contacted Fairchild to order chips of the 74181, latches, shift registers and multiplexors. The total cost for chips was $ 99.00.
I could expect chips by January 1968. The San Jose Mercury had run an 0.5 page article with my picture after the computer purchase, at school most students were normal towards me, however, a couple reacted badly because of their parents' pressures.
My Desk project in the woodshop was damaged. A few people did not speak to me, but that was normal. anyway. The Electronic proposal had gone through, it was a standing agreement with a few of my instructors that I could quietly gather myself and leave the classroom to go to the electronics shop once the homework assignment had been given. A couple of people became my friends just because they saw me walking through the hallways between classes without being yelled at!
I completed logic simulation of the CPU, verifying my logic diagram. A simple logical description of the chips as subcalls in FORTRAN sufficed to allow me to place a binary Instruction then data and address into the software, the result would be printed out on my teletype for view. I performed add, shift left and shift right, exclusive, or and increment instructions before I was satisfied, knowing that all functions were perfectly viable.
I selected serial transmission between major operations to limit the number of interconnections, which had to be carried across the chip. After study, I defined a 24-pin product. I knew at the time only hybrid construction was able to produce such a number of pins, but with the wire-bonded die and a multilayer printed circuit board I felt the device could be built in 2 square inches!
I was ready. One day, while I was sitting in class I heard that the instructors phone rang. After speaking on the phone the instructor looked at me, then came to me with a note. The note said, "Leave the class, get my things out of my locker, exit the school through the rear entrance, take the Greyhound bus home!"
I did this, wondering what exactly was occurring. While I was walking home in San Martin, a car pulled up beside me.
The car looked like a Volkswagen Carmengia but it seemed different. I did not know then - it was a 55 Porsche model in a perfect shape.
Inside of this car sat a gentleman in a rather severe pinstriped suit and rectangular lens glasses. This Gentleman asked me if I wanted a ride home. I replied that I was not supposed to get into stranger’s vehicles. He asked me what house I was destined, and I answered - the first house on the left down the road.
He said that it was also his destination. My heart turned into sand.
I immediately decided that lawyer from South Carolina had finally shown up to take his due, except this gentleman gave me a different name which was Arthur Rock of San Francisco. He was well known around venture capitalist, as I found out later.
Once Mr. Rock had become seated in our living room, I introduced him to my mother. My father was not home at the time, but he arrived while Mr. Rock was still present.
Mr. Rock asked me to describe what I was doing. After I described my projects he remained quite for some minutes. Then he said - he could not understand my electronic jargon, and ask me, please, to speak to an engineer, whom he would send. I agreed to speak to the engineer, if confidentiality would have been kept.
This engineer arrived one afternoon after I had returned home from school. This was the second time when the specialist exited our home, being deeply angered by my steadfastness.
I felt somehow guilty. I felt that again I had failed to convince the engineer that I had been completely right.
The time was approaching when I should have left for Boston to attend DEC Computer Classes. The High School had agreed to allow me to make the trip with arrangements through a school in Boston for me to continue my studies.
One math instructor insisted that I should have visited a gentleman named Dr. Claude Shannon, who lived at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A couple of my friends were rather incredulous that I would have been allowed to wander around 2000 miles from school without becoming truant.
I reminded them that exchange students were doing it all the time!
In addition, my dad would have been along, so it should have seemed very normal.
Everyone in my class was five or more years older than me, but, at least, they were friendly. During our tour through the DEC plant a few of the workers looked me up at our motel, as they were intrigued that a 17-year kid was attending the DEC school.
After some discussion I was told - I could have walked in to speak to them after hours, if I wished so.
I was an often visitor during that late hours to observe the generation of operating systems and other software. Once the classes were completed, I received certificates but I could not have attended the class party because liquor was supposed to be served.
My father telephoned Dr. Shannon. As we prepared to leave Boston, we drove out to Cambridge. Dr. Shannon, lived in Ben Franklin’s Sisters former house, it had 14 fireplaces!
I was so impressed with Dr. Shannon’s personal library that I implored him to allow me to live in this library for a weekend. Dr. Shannon agreed, defining a bathroom and sleeping area nearby for me.
A maid brought me refreshments regularly. I was completely absorbed by books, which I had sought for so long time, and finally found.
I could not have slept as it was so interesting. Sunday evening my father arrived to pick me up.
Dr. Shannon and I had been meeting all afternoon. Dr. Shannon described me to my father as Black Thomas Alva Edison. I returned to California to find out that my orders of chips had already arrived from Fairchild.
I immediately began construction of the prototype circuit for the computer on a chip. Once I had completed the construction, I contacted Fairchild to see, if they were interested in such a concept. Fairchild declined to pursuit my interests. The engineers told me that EVERYTHING important in computers had been already done, and I was simply crazy, pursuing my "ideas".
Mr. Rock kept informed with my progress, he suggested that I apply to IBM for work once I completed high school.
After graduation, I traveled to IBM to fill out an employment application. After a week a letter arrived, IBM suggested that I become a college student before applying for employment with IBM. Mr. Rock called, I informed him of the events with IBM, he hung up.
A week later IBM called to ask me to come to discuss a position. I arrived, in my only black suit with straight tie and patent leather shoes. I became for the summer a junior logic designer; my job was the serial transmission logic before the read/write circuitry. The project was the Winchester Disk drive.
After the summer was completed, IBM offered to finance my education, if I would spend five years with them after completing school. I declined, determined not to sign thirteen years of my life away. I felt I was too young to endure such an assignment.
Two years later Dr. Noyce called my parents home, I presented the block schematic to Dr. Noyce, who looked it over.
Then he exclaimed that, if I could get along with the head of Research & Development, Dr. Marcian Hoff, I had a job.
Once I was Dr. Hoff’s employee, he was initially intrigued at the speed of which I completed a project, which he had assigned me while he, himself, went on vacation. I was allowed to come to Dr. Hoff’s office often for blue-sky discussions concerning many things.
Computers were often the discussions' topic, but Dr. Hoff insisted that the computer on a chip was just a dream.
One day, a newly (after me) hired Dr. Fedderico Faggin brought some estimates to Dr. Hoff’s office while were in blue-sky discussion. Dr. Hoff looked over these papers, he exclaimed the cost is too expensive, this will never work out.
I knew - Fedderico was working on the Busicom project. I interjected that we had been discussing just what might be a solution - a general-purpose computer chip that could have been then programmed to act like a calculator.
Dr. Hoff looked thoughtful. He exclaimed, “Sit right here, I have to attend a meeting, I’ll take this idea to them!” When Dr. Hoff returned, he had a shocked expression on his face, and said only four words: “They went for it!”
After many discussions Fedderico worked late nights.
I remember his car remained when I left often at 9 p.m.! Once the chips were defined Fedderico worked his magic: three of them worked perfectly- the 4001, 4002 and 4003, but the 4004 had a problem, a masking layer had been dropped during manufacturing process, which concerned the clocks in the chip, meaning - no connection, floating gates!
Another product - the 1103 was effected by the same problem later, the result - the EPROM was created! Once we had all the chips mounted on a PC board, EPROM included, we were ready to demonstrate. Busicom had become a ghost, as they failed to gain Marketing financing to promote their product.
A discussion was planned to determine whether to show the device at the upcoming Fall Joint Computer Conference in Las Vegas or not. Short while prior to the occurrence of this meeting, Dr. Hoff, who, probably, had made up his mind negatively towards the continuation and possible marketing of 4000 series, presented me the book - Future Shock, which main content was the promotion of the idea that inventions and ideas could be fruitful only when environments were ready for them, not vice versa. In spite of my further, pretty turbulent life, I am still in possession of this book with Dr. Hoff's, and his wife's at that time inscriptions.
When the votes were taken immediately prior to the incoming Las Vegas Conference, mine was the only “aye “ to be heard. Afterwards, that evening, I discussed with Dr. Noyce the future of the 4004.
Dr. Noyce agreed to allow me to take the device to Las Vegas, at my own cost and risk. He also suggested that I wouldn't be welcome back to the company, if the device wouldn't be accepted.
I took the challenge. So, on only my own risk I organized the demonstration in Las Vegas. What followed this demonstration is the well known history.
After the 4004 was introduced, Intel finally got into the swing of manufacture.
The 8008 later was defined from the former 1201 project with Datapoint. Datapoint had reacted unrealistically for such an achievement, which had only low-speed as its main drawback. The industry was improving with leaps and bounds in that field.
My next project was to set up a computer for Intel engineers to use to design chips. I selected the DEC PDP-10, a University Toy, as it was called by the business people at INTEL. The toy worked in spite of their efforts to derail it!
In 1973 after a car accident that caused me sever injury, Dr. Noyce asked me to sign on the 4000 series Patent, but I then declined, remembering still problems, which I had with the professor's lawyer from S. Carolina, and wishing this 4000 series Intel patent to go successfully through Patent Office.
As I understand later, it was one of my life's biggest mistake!
Intel company and I parted in 1975.
I traveled to Chicago, where I was employed at Nuclear Data. The President of Nuclear Data admitted he had had an hour-long discussion with Dr. Noyce about me.
In 1990, Dr. Hoff contacted me through mutual friends. When I telephoned him, he said we had to discuss a problem in person. I scheduled a trip to California where I met with Dr. Hoff.
Dr. Hoff described to me the actions in the Patent Office, which had caused the problem. This problem lead to the disqualification of four different companies patents, one of which was the mentioned above 4000 series Intel's patent.
Dr. Hoff informed me that Mr. Gilbert Hyatt was suing INTEL and others after the patents were disqualified. Dr. Hoff wished to have me to testify in the upcoming trial that the creation of the 4004 was caused by the natural progression of technology.
I, however, remembered the fight, only my own "aye", the preceding long haul to get where we were. I was also in possession of my circuit scheme from 1967. So, I refused to testify in such a way.
Dr. Hoff and I parted in disagreement.
This time, however, Intel lost to G. Hyatt, as the company had no proofs of their pioneership in the subject, the proofs, which I was in possession of."
The readers, who want to find out more about this story are welcome to visit the web site: www.moscowtochicago.com.
There are also some words in conclusion:
1. The official version, maintained in the USA: " The real inventor of microprocessor is unknown!";
2. Nobel Prize in Physics of 2000, which was awarded for achievements in computers, and communications' development didn't mention the word "microprocessor". The inventor of pocket calculator, the device much less important than microcomputer, is one of this Nobel Prize's winners;
3. The world name for microprocessors - The Best and The Most Widely Utilized Technological World's Invention of The 20th Century!
Again History speaks, and speaks loudly against American Prejustice!!
A Mind, as it widely advertised, is the terrible thing to waste.
It is not, however, emphasized that it is terrible not only to the owners of these wasted minds, but to the society, which wastes them, and mostly to the society itself!
Summarizing the above, I want to attract attention of the readers to the fact that Wayne Douglas Pickette, though he has had a number of very bright spots in his resume, one of which is described above, is now making his living by manual labor through different Champaign and Urbana temporary employment agencies.
So, all readers of these two towns around the big university, who have respect to the golden pages of the history of American technology and science, and also some hiring capacities, are very welcome to contact him and to help him to find the more appropriate employment.
Neighboring venture capitalists, assuming that they have observed the web site:www.moscowtochicago.com, if they want to increase fast their fortune, and also to find later their names on the pages of the glory of American technology and science, like the name of Mr. Arthur Rock, for example, are also very welcome to contact him.
e-mail addresses:
wankap (at) yahoo.com, waynedougpick (at) moscowtochicago.com, wankap (at) netzero.net
phones:
(217) 359 - 3619; (408) 219 -9895
US mail:
302 S. Second Street, # 711
Champaign, Illinois 61820
That is all, dear readers! Have a nice day, but don't tell your conscience to shut up, when it is trying to say you something, and, what is even more important, don't slam the door at the face of your personal luck, when it (this luck) knocks at this door!
Anna V. Epelbaum |
This work is in the public domain. |
Comments
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Re: The Past, The Present, The Future |
by Joe Futrelle
futrelle (nospam) shout.net (verified) |
Current rating: 0
10 Mar 2004
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Interesting story, here's another link.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/microprocessor.htm |
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Re: The Past, The Present, The Future |
by Wayne Pickette
waynedougpick (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
13 Mar 2004
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Since every knows that Fedderico joind INTEL in late April of 1970 this article affirms my timeline without mention of myself. |
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Re: The Past, The Present, The Future |
by Anna Epelbaum
aepelbaum (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
15 Mar 2004
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Ted Hoff wasn't able to prove Intel's priority in microprocessors, as he didn't want to mention the real inventor -Wayne D. Pickette, and the proofs of this pioneership were in Wayne Pickette's possession. That is why the official version in USA - "the real inventor is unknown", and that is why microprocessors are not mentioned in Nobel Prize of 2000. That is why this article is the explanation of so named "microprocessor's mistery". |
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Re: The Past, The Present, The Future |
by Anna Epelbaum
aepelbaum (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
20 Mar 2004
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It seems to be very strange that neither e-mail address of the second comment nor the one of the third is confirmed. It seems also strange that there was too little interest exhibited to the hugest (I think) "mystery" of American technology and science history. However, the aim of this comment to confirm e-mail addresses of authors of the second and the third comment and to invite those, who are interested to contact them directly. |
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Confirming Email Addresses |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
20 Mar 2004
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Anna,
Confirming an email address requires a response to an email from the website sent to the address. If you have received such an email, please respond to it to confirm.
But that may not work. We have had trouble with this software in the past not working properly to confirm email addresses, so you are not the first to run into this problem. We are not sure what the origin of the problem is, but we are hoping it will be fixed in the next relaese of the software we use. Please bear with us you have replied to the confirming email, but it has not yet worked. |
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Re: The Past, The Present, The Future |
by Anna V. Epelbaum
aepelbaum (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
26 Apr 2004
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This article was placed on the web on 3/10/04. There is some additional information to this article by the same author from 4/24/04 "Some More Suggestions Towards The Article 'The Past, The Present, The Future' ". Please, read it, and use its content for yours and others financial advantages.
Have a nice day! |
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