discrete transistors

Allison J Parent No, one transistor per cubic inch is on the high side (as I describe in a previous posting). Sure, you can make cards that have a dozen discrete transistors per cubic inch (without even going to SOT-23 packages). But you can't build a *system* with that overall density. IBM didn't achieve densities better than one transistor per cubic inch until they switched from SMS cards (discrete components on small printed circuit board modules, similar to DEC R and B series modules) used in the 7000-series computers to SLT (hybrid integrated circuits on ceramic substrates, first used in System/360 in 1964). References: _IBM's Early Computers_ Charles J. Bashe, Lyle R. Hohnson, John H. Palmer, Emerson W. Pugh MIT Press, 1986 (out of print) ** This book is a must-have ** _IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems_ Emerson W. Pugh, Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer MIT Press, 1991 _Memories That Shaped an Industry_ Emerson W. Pugh MIT Press, 1984 _Building IBM: Shaping an Industry and Its Technology_ Emerson W. Pugh MIT Press, 1995 _Planning a Computer System: Project Stretch_ Werner Buchholz, editor McGraw-Hill, 1962 (out of print) _Computer Architecture: Concepts and Evolution_ Gerrit A. Blaauw and Frederick P. Brooks Jr. Addison-Wesley, 1997