Progress in Miniaturization

● When the first all-electronic computer was built back in 1946, it took some 1,500 square feet of floor space. It had 18,000 vacuum tubes and consumed as much electricity as six houses. Much progress in miniaturization has been made over the years, though. Today the same electronic circuitry can be compressed into a device not much larger than a man’s watch and using about the same wattage as a flashlight bulb.