Back when
I was in charge of Intel's manufacturing and engineering, we were in the
throes of introducing a new product: a set of microchips, which we used
in combinations to build everything from calculators to postage meters.
They were electronic Lego blocks of sorts. Beyond that, they were chips
like any others we were building in those days—if anything, simpler
than the complex memory chips that occupied our attention. So it was
with amazement that we manufacturing types greeted the trade-paper ad
that appeared on Nov. 15: "Announcing a New Era of Integrated
Electronics," it trumpeted. Frankly, I was horrified; what was this new
era? What was so special? Looking back, the marketing folks were on to
something. Digital electronics was growing rapidly. Customers began
demanding improvements leading to more and more complex versions of the
building blocks. We called them microprocessors, and they became the
soul of the personal computer.
Grove is the chairman of the board
of Intel
TIME Cover
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