Editing Information Age (section)

==Innovations==
[[File:Internet_map_1024.jpg|thumb|273x273px|A visualization of the various routes through a portion of the Internet]]
The Information Age was enabled by technology developed in the [[Digital Revolution]], which was itself enabled by building on the developments of the [[Technological Revolution]].

===Transistors===
{{Main|Transistor|History of the transistor|MOSFET}}
{{Further|Semiconductor device}}

The onset of the Information Age can be associated with the development of [[transistor]] technology.<ref name="Manuel"/> The concept of a [[field-effect transistor]] was first theorized by [[Julius Edgar Lilienfeld]] in 1925.<ref name="Lee"/> The first practical transistor was the [[point-contact transistor]], invented by the engineers [[Walter Houser Brattain]] and [[John Bardeen]] while working for [[William Shockley]] at [[Bell Labs]] in 1947. This was a breakthrough that laid the foundations for modern technology.<ref name="Manuel">{{Cite book|title= The information age : economy, society and culture|last= Manuel|first= Castells |date= 1996|publisher= Blackwell|isbn= 978-0631215943|location= Oxford|oclc= 43092627}}</ref> Shockley's research team also invented the [[bipolar junction transistor]] in 1952.<ref name="computerhistory-transistor">{{cite web|date=4 December 2013|title=Who Invented the Transistor?|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/|access-date=20 July 2019|website=[[Computer History Museum]]|archive-date=13 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213221601/https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lee">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Thomas H. |title=The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits |date=2003 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781139643771 |chapter=A Review of MOS Device Physics |chapter-url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/ee/ee214/ee214.1032/Handouts/HO2.pdf |access-date=2019-07-21 |archive-date=2019-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209032130/https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/ee/ee214/ee214.1032/Handouts/HO2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The most widely used type of transistor is the [[metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor]] (MOSFET), invented by [[Mohamed M. Atalla]] and [[Dawon Kahng]] at Bell Labs in 1960.<ref name="computerhistory">{{cite journal|title=1960 – Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) Transistor Demonstrated|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/metal-oxide-semiconductor-mos-transistor-demonstrated/|journal=The Silicon Engine|publisher=[[Computer History Museum]]|access-date=2019-07-21|archive-date=2019-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027045554/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/metal-oxide-semiconductor-mos-transistor-demonstrated/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[complementary MOS]] (CMOS) fabrication process was developed by [[Frank Wanlass]] and [[Chih-Tang Sah]] in 1963.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=1963: Complementary MOS Circuit Configuration is Invented|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/complementary-mos-circuit-configuration-is-invented/|access-date=|website=|archive-date=2019-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723142758/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/complementary-mos-circuit-configuration-is-invented/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Computers===
{{main|Computer|History of computing hardware}}
{{further|Integrated circuit|Invention of the integrated circuit|Microprocessor|Moore's law}}

Before the advent of [[electronics]], [[mechanical computer]]s, like the [[Analytical Engine]] in 1837, were designed to provide routine mathematical calculation and simple decision-making capabilities. Military needs during [[World War II]] drove development of the first electronic computers, based on [[vacuum tube]]s, including the [[Z3 (computer)|Z3]], the [[Atanasoff–Berry Computer]], [[Colossus computer]], and [[ENIAC]].

The invention of the transistor enabled the era of [[mainframe computer]]s (1950s–1970s), typified by the [[IBM System/360|IBM 360]]. These large, [[History of computing hardware|room-sized computers]] provided data calculation and [[Data manipulation language|manipulation]] that was much faster than humanly possible, but were expensive to buy and maintain, so were initially limited to a few scientific institutions, large corporations, and government agencies.

The [[germanium]] [[integrated circuit]] (IC) was invented by [[Jack Kilby]] at [[Texas Instruments]] in 1958.<ref>{{Citation|first=Jack|last=Kilby|author-link=Jack Kilby|title=Nobel lecture|publisher=Nobel Foundation|year=2000|location=Stockholm|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2000/kilby-lecture.pdf|access-date=15 May 2008|archive-date=29 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529024119/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2000/kilby-lecture.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[silicon]] integrated circuit was then invented in 1959 by [[Robert Noyce]] at [[Fairchild Semiconductor]], using the [[planar process]] developed by [[Jean Hoerni]], who was in turn building on [[Mohamed Atalla]]'s silicon [[Passivation (chemistry)|surface passivation]] method developed at [[Bell Labs]] in 1957.<ref name="Lojek120">{{cite book |last1=Lojek |first1=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9783540342588 |page=120}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bassett |first1=Ross Knox |title=To the Digital Age: Research Labs, Start-up Companies, and the Rise of MOS Technology |date=2007 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=9780801886393 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUbB3d2UnaAC&pg=PA46 |access-date=2019-07-31 |archive-date=2020-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727075911/https://books.google.com/books?id=UUbB3d2UnaAC&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the invention of the [[MOSFET|MOS transistor]] by Mohamed Atalla and [[Dawon Kahng]] at Bell Labs in 1959,<ref name="computerhistory"/> the [[MOSFET|MOS]] integrated circuit was developed by Fred Heiman and Steven Hofstein at [[RCA]] in 1962.<ref name="computerhistory-digital">{{cite web |title=Tortoise of Transistors Wins the Race – CHM Revolution |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/279 |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=10 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310142421/https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/279 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[silicon-gate]] MOS IC was later developed by [[Federico Faggin]] at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1968.<ref>{{cite web |title=1968: Silicon Gate Technology Developed for ICs |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/silicon-gate-technology-developed-for-ics/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729145834/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/silicon-gate-technology-developed-for-ics/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With the advent of the MOS transistor and the MOS IC, transistor technology [[Moore's law|rapidly improved]], and the ratio of computing power to size increased dramatically, giving direct access to computers to ever smaller groups of people.

The first commercial single-chip microprocessor launched in 1971, the [[Intel 4004]], which was developed by Federico Faggin using his silicon-gate MOS IC technology, along with [[Marcian Hoff]], [[Masatoshi Shima]] and [[Stan Mazor]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1971: Microprocessor Integrates CPU Function onto a Single Chip |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812104243/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Colinge2016">{{cite book |last1=Colinge |first1=Jean-Pierre |last2=Greer |first2=James C. |last3=Greer |first3=Jim |title=Nanowire Transistors: Physics of Devices and Materials in One Dimension |date=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781107052406 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |access-date=2019-07-22 |archive-date=2020-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317123719/https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Along with electronic [[arcade cabinet|arcade machines]] and [[home video game console]]s pioneered by [[Nolan Bushnell]] in the 1970s, the development of personal computers like the [[Commodore PET]] and [[Apple II]] (both in 1977) gave individuals access to computers. However, [[data sharing]] between individual computers was either non-existent or largely [[sneaker net|manual]], at first using [[punched card]]s and [[magnetic tape]], and later [[floppy disk]]s.

===Data===
{{further|History of telecommunication|Computer memory|Computer data storage|Data compression|Internet access|Social media}}

The first developments for storing data were initially based on photographs, starting with [[microphotograph]]y in 1851 and then [[microform]] in the 1920s, with the ability to store documents on film, making them much more compact. Early [[information theory]] and [[Hamming code]]s were developed about 1950, but awaited technical innovations in data transmission and storage to be put to full use.

[[Magnetic-core memory]] was developed from the research of Frederick W. Viehe in 1947 and [[An Wang]] at [[Harvard University]] in 1949.<ref>{{cite web |title=1953: Whirlwind computer debuts core memory |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/whirlwind-computer-debuts-core-memory/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=31 July 2019 |archive-date=3 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003062330/https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/whirlwind-computer-debuts-core-memory/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1956: First commercial hard disk drive shipped |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/first-commercial-hard-disk-drive-shipped/ |website=Computer History Museum |access-date=31 July 2019 |archive-date=31 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731102835/https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/first-commercial-hard-disk-drive-shipped/ |url-status=live }}</ref> With the advent of the MOS transistor, MOS [[semiconductor memory]] was developed by John Schmidt at [[Fairchild Semiconductor]] in 1964.<ref name="computerhistory1980">{{cite web |title=1970: MOS Dynamic RAM Competes with Magnetic Core Memory on Price |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/mos-dynamic-ram-competes-with-magnetic-core-memory-on-price/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=29 July 2019 |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026142915/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/mos-dynamic-ram-competes-with-magnetic-core-memory-on-price/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kG4rAQAAIAAJ&q=John+Schmidt|title=Solid State Design – Vol. 6|date=1965|publisher=Horizon House|access-date=2020-11-12|archive-date=2021-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609163018/https://books.google.com/books?id=kG4rAQAAIAAJ&q=John+Schmidt|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1967, [[Dawon Kahng]] and [[Simon Sze]] at Bell Labs described in 1967 how the floating gate of an MOS semiconductor device could be used for the cell of a reprogrammable ROM.<ref name="computerhistory_1971">{{cite web |title=1971: Reusable semiconductor ROM introduced |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/reusable-semiconductor-rom-introduced/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=19 June 2019 |archive-date=3 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003063442/https://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/reusable-semiconductor-rom-introduced/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the invention of flash memory by [[Fujio Masuoka]] at [[Toshiba]] in 1980,<ref>{{cite web |last=Fulford |first=Benjamin |title=Unsung hero |work=Forbes |date=24 June 2002 |access-date=18 March 2008 |url=https://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0624/030.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080303205125/http://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0624/030.html |archive-date=3 March 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{patent|US|4531203|Fujio Masuoka}}</ref> Toshiba commercialized [[NAND flash]] memory in 1987.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=1987: Toshiba Launches NAND Flash |url=https://www.eweek.com/storage/1987-toshiba-launches-nand-flash |website=[[eWeek]] |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref><ref name="computerhistory_1971"/>

Copper wire cables transmitting digital data connected [[computer terminal]]s and [[peripheral]]s to mainframes, and special message-sharing systems leading to email, were first developed in the 1960s. Independent computer-to-computer networking began with [[ARPANET]] in 1969. This expanded to become the Internet (coined in 1974). Access to the Internet improved with the invention of the [[World Wide Web]] in 1991. The capacity expansion from [[Wavelength-division multiplexing|dense wave division multiplexing]], [[optical amplification]] and [[optical networking]] in the mid-1990s led to record data transfer rates. By 2018, optical networks routinely delivered 30.4 terabits/s over a fiber optic pair, the data equivalent of 1.2&nbsp;million simultaneous 4K HD video streams.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Saarinen|first=Juha|date=January 24, 2018|title=Telstra trial claims world's fasts transmission speed|work=ITNews Australia|url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-trials-400gbps-per-wavelength-technology-481679|access-date=December 5, 2021|archive-date=October 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017234245/https://www.itnews.com.au/news/telstra-trials-400gbps-per-wavelength-technology-481679|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[MOSFET scaling]], the rapid miniaturization of MOSFETs at a rate predicted by [[Moore's law]],<ref name="Sahay">{{cite book |last1=Sahay |first1=Shubham |last2=Kumar |first2=Mamidala Jagadesh |title=Junctionless Field-Effect Transistors: Design, Modeling, and Simulation |date=2019 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9781119523536 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0feEDwAAQBAJ |access-date=2019-10-31 |archive-date=2019-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221210009/https://books.google.com/books?id=0feEDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> led to computers becoming smaller and more powerful, to the point where they could be carried. During the 1980s{{ndash}}1990s, laptops were developed as a form of portable computer, and [[personal digital assistant]]s (PDAs) could be used while standing or walking. [[Pager]]s, widely used by the 1980s, were largely replaced by mobile phones beginning in the late 1990s, providing [[mobile network]]ing features to some computers. Now commonplace, this technology is extended to [[digital camera]]s and other wearable devices. Starting in the late 1990s, [[Tablet computer|tablets]] and then [[smartphone]]s combined and extended these abilities of computing, mobility, and information sharing. [[Metal–oxide–semiconductor]] (MOS) [[image sensor]]s, which first began appearing in the late 1960s, led to the transition from analog to [[digital imaging]], and from analog to digital cameras, during the 1980s–1990s. The most common image sensors are the [[charge-coupled device]] (CCD) sensor and the [[CMOS]] (complementary MOS) [[active-pixel sensor]] (CMOS sensor).

[[Electronic paper]], which has origins in the 1970s, allows digital information to appear as paper documents.

===Personal computers===
{{main|History of personal computers}}

By 1976, there were several firms racing to introduce the first truly successful commercial personal computers. Three machines, the [[Apple II]], [[Commodore PET|Commodore PET 2001]] and [[TRS-80]] were all released in 1977,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ5s5vfAas4C&q=the+home+computer+market+started+with&pg=PA135|title=Inventing the Electronic Century|access-date=11 August 2015|isbn=9780674029392|last1=Chandler|first1=Alfred Dupont|last2=Hikino|first2=Takashi|last3=Nordenflycht|first3=Andrew Von|last4=Chandler|first4=Alfred D.|date=2009-06-30|publisher=Harvard University Press |archive-date=2022-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118185742/https://books.google.com/books?id=wZ5s5vfAas4C&q=the+home+computer+market+started+with&pg=PA135|url-status=live}}</ref> becoming the most popular by late 1978.<ref name="nyt-78-12-06">{{cite news |last=Schuyten |first=Peter J. |title=Technology; The Computer Entering Home |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |department=Business & Finance |date=6 December 1978 |page=D4 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/06/archives/technology-the-computer-entering-home.html |access-date=9 September 2019 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722192122/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/06/archives/technology-the-computer-entering-home.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Byte'' magazine later referred to Commodore, Apple, and Tandy as the "1977 Trinity".<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm 
 |title=Most Important Companies 
 |access-date=2008-06-10 
 |date=September 1995 
 |work=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618072507/http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm 
 |archive-date=2008-06-18 
}}</ref> Also in 1977, [[Sord Computer Corporation]] released the Sord M200 Smart Home Computer in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en/computer/personal/0087.html|title=M200 Smart Home Computer Series-Computer Museum|access-date=2022-01-18|archive-date=2020-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103091528/http://museum.ipsj.or.jp/en//computer/personal/0087.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Apple II ====
{{Main|Apple II}}
[[File:Apple-II.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|{{center|April 1977: [[Apple II]].}}]]

[[Steve Wozniak]] (known as "Woz"), a regular visitor to [[Homebrew Computer Club]] meetings, designed the single-board [[Apple I]] computer and first demonstrated it there. With specifications in hand and an order for 100 machines at US$500 each from [[Byte Shop|the Byte Shop]], Woz and his friend [[Steve Jobs]] founded [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]].

About 200 of the machines sold before the company announced the Apple II as a complete computer. It had color [[Apple II graphics|graphics]], a full QWERTY keyboard, and internal slots for expansion, which were mounted in a high quality streamlined plastic case. The monitor and I/O devices were sold separately. The original Apple II [[operating system]] was only the built-in BASIC interpreter contained in ROM. [[Apple DOS]] was added to support the diskette drive; the last version was "Apple DOS 3.3".

Its higher price and lack of [[floating point]] BASIC, along with a lack of retail distribution sites, caused it to lag in sales behind the other Trinity machines until 1979, when it surpassed the PET. It was again pushed into 4th place when [[Atari, Inc.]] introduced its [[Atari 8-bit computers]].<ref>{{cite news | first=Jeremy | last=Reimer | title=Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures; The new era (2001– ) | url=https://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/total-share.ars/9 | pages=9 | work=Ars Technica | date=14 December 2005 | access-date=13 February 2008 | archive-date=21 February 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221215218/http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/total-share.ars/9 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Despite slow initial sales, the lifetime of the [[Apple II]] was about eight years longer than other machines, and so accumulated the highest total sales. By 1985, 2.1&nbsp;million had sold and more than 4 million Apple II's were shipped by the end of its production in 1993.<ref name=reimer>{{cite news|first=Jeremy |last=Reimer |title=Personal Computer Market Share: 1975–2004 |url=http://www.jeremyreimer.com/total_share.html |work=Ars Technica |date=December 2005 |access-date=13 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606052317/http://jeremyreimer.com/postman/node/329 |archive-date=6 June 2012 }}</ref>

=== Optical networking ===
{{further|Fiber-optic communication|Image sensor|Optical fiber}}

[[Optical communication]] plays a crucial role in [[communication network]]s. Optical communication provides the transmission backbone for the [[Telecommunications network|telecommunications]] and [[computer network]]s that underlie the Internet, the foundation for the [[Digital Revolution]] and Information Age.

The two core technologies are the optical fiber and light amplification (the [[optical amplifier]]). In 1953, Bram van Heel demonstrated image transmission through bundles of [[optical fiber]]s with a transparent cladding. The same year, [[Harold Hopkins (physicist)|Harold Hopkins]] and [[Narinder Singh Kapany]] at [[Imperial College]] succeeded in making image-transmitting bundles with over 10,000 optical fibers, and subsequently achieved image transmission through a 75&nbsp;cm long bundle which combined several thousand fibers.

[[Gordon Gould]] invented the [[optical amplifier]] and the [[laser]], and also established the first optical telecommunications company, [[Optelecom]], to design communication systems. The firm was a co-founder in [[Ciena Corp]]., the venture that popularized the optical amplifier with the introduction of the first [[Wavelength-division multiplexing|dense wave division multiplexing]] system.<ref>{{Cite news|last= Markoff|first=John|date=March 3, 1997|title=Fiber-Optic Technology Draws Record Stock Value|work=The New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/03/business/fiber-optic-technology-draws-record-stock-value.html|access-date=December 5, 2021|archive-date=November 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109042255/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/03/business/fiber-optic-technology-draws-record-stock-value.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This massive scale communication technology has emerged as the common basis of all telecommunications networks.<ref name = grobe>{{Cite book |last1= Grobe |first1=Klaus |title=Wavelength Division Multiplexing: A Practical Engineering Guide |last2=Eiselt |first2=Michael |publisher=John T Wiley & Sons |year=2013 |page=2 |isbn=9781118755150 |oclc=849801363}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2025}} and, thus, a foundation of the Information Age.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sudo|first=Shoichi|title=Optical Fiber Amplifiers: Materials Devices, and Applications|publisher=Artech House, Inc.|year=1997|pages=xi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=George|first=Gilder|date=April 4, 1997|title=Fiber Keeps its Promise.|work=Forbes ASAP}}</ref>