On November 16, 1904, British engineer John Ambrose Fleming patented the vacuum tube, ushering in the age of modern electronics. The tube frequently shows up in Golden Age science fiction, but it seems rather charmingly retro instead of jarringly outdated.
For a look at how computers might have evolved if the transistor and the integrated circuit had never come into being, check out this Technovelgy article on the Vacuum Tube Supercomputer Centre.
One response to “Happy Birthday Vacuum Tube”
Such fond memories. I remember thinking that the old tubes looked like a model of a space habitat.