Topic summary
Computer processor
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Processor (computing).
History
The invention of the transistor brought about rapid innovation in the computer industry. Transistors enabled computer processors to be denser and more power efficient, reducing the size of computers from rooms to something that could fit on a desk. Processors began to increase in processing power by a factor of two every year as transistors shrunk in size and more could be incorporated in a single computer, an observation known as Moore's law. The first transistors used in computing were millimeters across, now modern transistors can be produced at less than 5nm.