We recently looked at the origins of the integrated circuit (IC) and the calculator, which was the IC’s first killer app, but a surprise twist is that the calculator played a big part in the invention ...

Dan Geiger has created a new learning platform which has been specifically designed to teach you how a computer works at the most fundamental level, and even allows you to program in machine language ...

The processors in today’s computers have grown tremendously in performance, capabilities and complexity over the past decade. Clock speed has skyrocketed, and size has dwindled, even as the number of ...

Microprocessors are wondrous devices: They integrate the brain of a computer onto a single electronic component. The computing power that once required a room full of equipment now fits onto a ...

One of the most frequently touted measures of processor performance is a given chip's speed in gigahertz. Processors with higher GHz ratings can, theoretically, do more in a given unit of time than ...

The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, is a key component of your system that enables it to function. Whatever you see on your screen is processed by the CPU. It’s the core of your computer; you can ...

Guest author Ken Shirriff is a Silicon Valley-based computer enthusiast who enjoys reverse-engineering old chips and restoring classic equipment such as the Xerox Alto. Shirriff wrote the Arduino ...

Mark Hempstead owns shares in Intel Corp in a retirement account. He has received federal and industry funds for his research in power-management and computer architecture. Computers’ amazing ...

However, that processor gives the Q1 the claim to being the world's first true microcomputer two years before the better known MITS Altair 8800. "It is a real bonus being able to feature two Q1s – the ...