Transistor Radio

The transistor was invented by Shockley, Brattain and Bardeen of Bell Labs in 1947, about a year after I was born. The transistor is the basis of microchips today so it is difficult to envision the progress from a crude junction transistor in 1947 to the megachips that are the foundation of our electronic infrastructure in 2021.

It took only a short a while for the transistor to move from the laboratory to the consumer market, but by the late 50’s portable transistor radios were for sale.

{Aside: All of the electronics used during WWII was based on vacuum tubes. The first digital computers were vacuum tube devices. That is why a computer with minuscule computational capacity filled a room and took a small power station to run it. WWII walkie talkies took up a backpack that was filled with vacuum tubes and batteries. Compare that to your cell phone today. Wow!!!}

The advantages of transistors was manifold: small size, high bandwidth, low power consumption and compatible with printed circuit boards.