[ih] Intel 4004 vs the IMP

[Dave Crocker]

On 11/15/2021 6:19 AM, Steve Crocker via Internet-history wrote:
> Might it be possible to pin down the crossover date?  That is, when did a
> microprocessor appear that was of the same power as the Honeywell 316?
> 
> Alternatively, the processing needs for a router weren't staying static, so
> perhaps matching the power of a H316 would not have been sufficient.  In
> that case, the question is when did a microprocessor appear that was
> powerful enough to serve as a router?


Shortly after the HP handheld calculator came out, one of the engineers 
who worked on it did a short article comparing that device to ENIAC, 
built 25 years earlier.  It had a section comparing them as computers, 
and then a section comparing things like cost, size, reliability, power, 
etc.

The 'computing' part of the exercise showed them to be remarkably 
similar.  The differences in the other section were impressive, of 
course.  Hand vs. room.  MTBF of hours versus years.  Etc.

I think your initial question could nicely translate into a similar 
exercise, with the constraint that the 'computing' part is required to 
be roughly the same.

Your alternative exercise, is separately worth doing, since there were 
entirely adequate microprocessor-based routers by the latter 1980s. 
That one might need to distinguish between 'enterprise' routers vs. 
'backbone' routers is worth keeping in mind, though.

d/
-- 
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net