Editing Wire wrap (section)

== History ==
[[file:IBM 1401 backplane.jpg|thumb|Wire wrapped backplane of an [[IBM 1401]] computer, introduced in 1959]]
[[file:Wire wrap in OSRAM CFL.jpg|thumb|A modern wire wrap in a [[Compact Fluorescent Lamp|CFL]]]]

Manually wrapped wires were common in early 20th century [[Point-to-point construction|point-to-point electronic construction]] methods in which a strong connection was needed to hold the components in place. Wires were wrapped by hand around binding posts or spade lugs and then soldered.

Modern wire wrapping technology was developed after WWII at [[Bell Laboratories]] as a means of making electrical connections in a new relay being designed for use in the Bell Telephone system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/att/Bell_Labs/Wire-Wrap_Ad_Bell_Labs_Oct53.jpg|author=Bell Telephone Laboratories|title=A New Twist in Telephony (advertisement)|year=1953|access-date=November 3, 2018}}</ref> A design team headed by [[Arthur C. Keller]] developed the “Keller Wrap Gun”, and the entire wrap system was passed over to [[Western Electric]] for industrial application. After a “make or buy” committee at Western Electric decided to have the hand tool manufactured by an outside vendor, Western Electric sent the tool contract out for bids. Keller Tool of Grand Haven, Michigan, a supplier of rotary hand tools to Western Electric, won the contract and made several design changes to make the tool easier to manufacture and to use. Keller began manufacturing the tools in 1953, and subsequently obtained a license from Western Electric allowing sale of the technology on the open market. The tool was marketed under its original name – since the name of the manufacturer was coincidentally the same as the name of the inventor.

[[IBM]]'s first transistorized computers, introduced within the late 1950s, were built with the [[IBM Standard Modular System]] that used wire-wrapped backplanes.

Wire-wrap was used by [[Apple Computer]] to make early prototypes of the original Macintosh computer (The [[Macintosh 128K]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hello. The Apple Mac @ 40 |url=https://computerhistory.org/exhibits/hello-the-mac-at-40/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=CHM |language=en|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240122012901/https://computerhistory.org/exhibits/hello-the-mac-at-40/|archive-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref>