Although transistors were great deal of improvement over the vacuum tubes, they generated heat and damaged the sensitive areas of the computer. The Interpreted Circuit(IC) was invented in 1958 by Jack Kirby. It combined electronic components onto a small silicon disc, made from quartz. More advancement made possible the fittings of even more components on a small chip or a semi conductor. Also in third generation computers, the operating systems allowed the machines to run many different applications. These applications were monitored and coordinated by the computer's memory.
The third generation of computing was characterized by the transition from transistors to the integrated circuit chip (invented in 1958 by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments, and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor Corp.). The basic idea behind the IC chip was to build a complete electronic circuit into a single block of material, eliminating the tangled mess of wiring needed to connect individual transistors, resistors, capacitors, etc. This became known as "solid-state" technology.
The use of integrated circuits was largely motivated by the US space program, who needed smaller, lightweight computer for on-board guidance systems. However, solid-state technology was soon revolutionizing the computer industry. In 1964, IBM unveiled the System/360, one of the first computers to use integrated circuits as its main processing technology . The System/360 was designed to support a wide range of applications, both scientific and business, and is considered by many to be one of the most successful computers in history. Thanks to the IC chip, computer systems could now be "modular" ... allowing customers to purchase a smaller system with the knowledge they would be able to migrate upwards if their needs grew.
In 1968, Robert Noyce left Fairchild Corp., along with another engineer named Gordon Moore to create a new IC company called "Integrated Electronics Corporation" ... now commonly known as "Intel".
More than forty years after his invention, Jack Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work with integrated circuits. (Having died in 1990, Robert Noyce's name could not be included in the award, since Nobel Prizes are not given posthumously).
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