Microchip Pioneer Jack Kilby Dies at 81

[Hobo]

By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer Tue Jun 21, 6:42 PM ET

DALLAS - Nobel laureate Jack Kilby, whose 1958 invention of the integrated circuit ushered in the electronics age and made possible the microprocessor, has died after a battle with cancer.

Kilby died Monday at age 81, said Texas Instruments Inc., where he worked for many years.

Before the integrated circuit, electronic devices relied on bulky and fragile circuitry, including glass vacuum tubes. Afterward, electronics could become increasingly more complex, reliable and efficient: powering everything from the iPod to the Internet.


<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050621/ap_on_hi_te/obit_kilby;_ylt=AsY1x5GHk4uiqVPOC1VGbBUjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl>

Hobo

:beer:

[yellowdogintexas]

1. my mom grew up in Great Bend KS and went to high school with

Jack Kilby. ...

[Burma Jones]

2. Only One Response?

Here's a quote from the Washington Post Appreciation......

Jack did get a shot at big-time fame, when Diane Sawyer interviewed him for the CBS Morning News. Sawyer was peppy and excited; Jack was his slow, laconic self. When Sawyer noted that his invention had "kept the United States at the forefront of technology," Jack stewed over the idea for a moment and then said, "Well, I hadn't thought of it in those terms."

Sawyer asked, "Have you made money from this invention?" Jack paused again, and finally said, "Some, yeah." With that, CBS broke for a commercial and Jack's moment in the sun was over.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101646.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/business/22kilby.html

Oh, and by the way, Kilby went to College under the GI Bill of Rights - a Government program that would undoubtedly be called Socialist today......