Just six years after its founding, Intel created a milestone in the history of computing. Instead of making chips for very specific purposes, it designed a processor that could be used in any scenario. Launched as the Intel 8080, it would go on to be recognised as the world’s first general-purpose microprocessor and 50 years on, Team Blue is celebrating the success of the little chip.
For anyone relatively new to the world of gaming PCs or just computers in general, it’s probably hard to picture just how much processing technology has changed over the years. But as someone who’s four years older than the Intel 8080, I’ve been fortunate to live through the advancements and experience them first-hand on appearance.
My first IBM PC was powered by an Intel 8080, though by that time it was already 15 years old. It was an 8-bit processor, not too dissimilar to the Zilog Z80 chip that I’d spent many years programming before getting a PC. There was a good reason for that similarity: Both…