I remember smashing chips. Was pretty difficult, actually. I tortured
memory chips. I think this might be a good idea. I can imagine a
fairly large market for this, if you're into that sort of thing.
THe only problem is: how many 4004s are left, not counting the ones
on Voyager? How many were made?
them along the edge to split the ceramic to expose the
silicon die,
then examining them under a microscope. With that experience in
mind, I've saved a number of chips from junked equipment over the
years.
Has anyone else out there assembled a microscopic chip collection?
I've thought about removing the dies from the chips (hmm, might
be tough because they're so fragile) and mounting them on slides.
Sam's message about the 4004 made me think about this. Coulson
suggested a good way to get a 4004 would be to find one in an old
cash register. I checked the net for sites for cash register
repair companies, and sent a few e-mails, but none had spare 4004s.
It would be fun and almost educational to outsiders to have a
series of slides showing the evolution of the common Intel chipset,
or memory chips.
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at
http://www.hotmail.com