> On Dec 21, 2018, at 8:19 AM, Noel Chiappa via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
> ...
> The DEC brochure for it (P5141) is a little puzzling; it says (p. 2) that
> "INTEGRATED CIRCUITS are basic elements of the low cost, newly designed
> silicon FLIP CHIP modules used throughout PDP-7", but AFAIK, the first FLIP
> CHIPs (R-series, B-series, etc) were all transistors; the later M-series were
> the first ones to have ICs. Maybe this is some old meaning of "integrated
> circuits"?
>
> Noel
It's odd wording for sure, and doesn't feel like a common use of the term from
before the arrival of monolithic integrated circuits. But there is some
precedent; through the 1970s if not somewhat later there were "hybrid
integrated circuits", often found in high performance A/D and D/A converters.
Those are essentially compact circuit modules, but typically with unusual
substrates like ceramic ones instead of PC boards, and surface mount components
when PCBs used all through-hole components. So "integrated circuit" wasn't
limited to the "monolithic" kind back then.
I sometimes refer to "hollow state integrated circuits" to describe the
complete multi-stage amplifier in a single package built by Loewe of Germany in
the 1930s; look for "Loewe 3NF".
paul
