Part 3/9:
In 1971, at the age of 30, Faggin designed and built the Intel 4004, the world’s first microprocessor. This feat not only revolutionized computing but also laid the groundwork for personal computers, smartphones, and smartwatches. Prior to Faggin’s innovation, computers were behemoths, often confined to large rooms. The advent of the microprocessor changed that.
Faggin’s foresight in understanding the potential of MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) technology, which others dismissed as slow and impractical, quickly proved him right. He creatively solved challenges in chip production, simplifying processes and ultimately ensuring that microprocessors could be mass-produced efficiently.