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Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Posted by Michael on 21 June 2005, 23:49 GMT

Yesterday Jack St. Claire Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit, died at the age of 81. He was a longtime TI engineer who also co-invented the handheld electronic calculator. TI has a press release and a biography available. Mr. Kilby was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on the integrated circuit. Without him, graphing calculators (and all computers) would not exist. His work will live on forever throughout the entire world in microwaves, cars, clocks, pacemakers, and everything electronic.

Yahoo has additional information.

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Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Richard Brosius  Account Info

Amen

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 00:07 GMT


Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Patrick Prendergast  Account Info

Rest In Peace Jack Kilby, and Thankyou.

Reply to this comment    28 June 2005, 08:48 GMT

Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Peter Fernandes  Account Info
(Web Page)

I can honestly say that before today, I had never heard of anyone named Jack Kilby. But hey, if he helped create the greatest series of electronic devices of all time, I feel sad that he's gone.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 00:39 GMT


Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Michael Vincent  Account Info
(Web Page)

Not just calculators, but everything and anything electronic.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 01:03 GMT

Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Gamer13  Account Info
(Web Page)

Yeah, without him none of us would be here. We owe him a lot.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 02:27 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Andy Janata  Account Info
(Web Page)

>> without him none of us would be here

Quite literally.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 03:49 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
burntfuse  Account Info
(Web Page)

At least everything electronic that involves ICs, which I guess *is* just about everything more complex than a toaster. Wasn't he a co-founder of TI?

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 12:47 GMT

Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
KermMartian Account Info
(Web Page)

Even toasters have heat-control ICs now. Sounds like we owe a lot to him.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 14:27 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Earl  Account Info

Who cares about toasters!

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 16:28 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
LonePhoenix  Account Info
(Web Page)

i do! i like to eat toasted bread!

Reply to this comment    27 June 2005, 16:25 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Earl  Account Info

Well I suppose it is possible because he was a ti pioneer so basically he could have been a co-founder of Texas Instruments. typically since he invented the Integrated circuit and they are used in calcs right? So it is possible and if anyone would tell me what an integrated circuit is please reply to this comment

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 16:31 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Richard Brosius  Account Info

Are you serious?
Thats alright.
Its a small package of solid state components that are placed in a ceramic or plastic case ranging from 8 to 64 pins (assuming its a linear integrated circuit)the individual components are etched from silicon wafers. Several million components can be fit into a single IC.
In the calculator it is used to store memory such as RAM and flash ROM

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 21:05 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Andy Janata  Account Info
(Web Page)

You can have fewer than 8 and many more than 64 pins... The processors are ICs too, and I know the P4 has upwards of 200 pins.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 22:32 GMT

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Richard Brosius  Account Info

yeah I know for proccesors or for dual transistor they can be out of the range but they are not considered linear ICs, are they?

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 22:41 GMT

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Richard Brosius  Account Info

I guess you are correct though for an IC i should not have stated a range of pins

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 22:44 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
mstrmnd34 Account Info

IC = microchip

well, you know what microchips are right? without them you wouldnt even be posting here. not a chance in heck of it (unless you can afford the 1 million individual transistors/vacuum tubes and ticalc.org can)

without computers, i'd probably have NO reasons to live. yes, i am that much of a geek :P

Reply to this comment    23 June 2005, 04:58 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
CajunLuke  Account Info
(Web Page)

If they didn't exist, you wouldn't know you wanted to be a calc. nerd.

Reply to this comment    24 June 2005, 12:24 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Zeroko  Account Info
(Web Page)

Depending upon one's reason for being a calculator nerd, one must remember that there were slide rules before electronic calculators.

Reply to this comment    29 June 2005, 00:27 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
burntfuse  Account Info
(Web Page)

I've even seen some FPGAs with >1000 pins...I feel sorry for the engineer who has to layout a board with one of those things on it...

Reply to this comment    23 June 2005, 20:09 GMT

Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Earl  Account Info

Did He help invent the Graphing Calculator, cause it said he was a long time TI Engineer. Let's hope. And how old was he when he invented the integrated circuit. and what the heck is that anyway :(

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 16:26 GMT

Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Phaethonyx Account Info

An integrated circuit (I am going to call them IC's in this post) can be called the heart of basically any electronic device commonly used today. IC's contain at the minimum 2 interconnected semiconducter devices. They are microprocessors, which basically are the heart of electronic devices. Without them, computers would still run on vacuum tubes and would consume the size of an average room in a house.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 18:53 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
burntfuse  Account Info
(Web Page)

<lecture to n00bs>
Close, but not quite... An IC is basically a bunch of transistors and resistors (and sometimes other componenets) etched into a tiny silicon wafer in a small package with pins connecting the internal circuit to external circuits. Look at it this way - a Z80 (one of the processors used in TI calcs) probably has thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of components. Of course, if you tried to put that many components separately on a board, it would be way to large to even lift by yourself, much less carry around in your pocket. But when the components are all shrunk and packed together in an IC, the whole things ends up much smaller and lighter.

IC != uP

Also, not EVERY device uses an IC - lamps and toasters, for example, don't require enough circuitry to make it worth using an IC (maybe some toasters have microcontrollers, but then the designers are idiots, since all they need is a simple bi-metallic switch!).
</lecture to n00bs>

Reply to this comment    23 June 2005, 20:06 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Richard Brosius  Account Info

Its pretty off topic, but does anybody know where I can purchase some 2sc9013 NPN transistors. I have searched and they are really hard to find. I have foud places that have them but I would need to order $500 worth. I need them to build the RF link. If anybody knows a substitution that I can use please tell me.

Reply to this comment    24 June 2005, 01:17 GMT


Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
benryves  Account Info
(Web Page)

Pop into Maplin and ask them, or pick up an electronics mag and look in the ads in the back? I know EPE has ads for companies that can issue even rare transistors.

Reply to this comment    25 June 2005, 00:14 GMT


Re: Re: Jack Kilby, TI Pioneer, Dies at Age 81
Andy Janata  Account Info
(Web Page)

http://tinyurl.com/87k4d Care of Wikipedia.

Reply to this comment    22 June 2005, 22:34 GMT

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