Comments by "Scott Franco" (@scottfranco1962) on "The First Transistors" video.

  1. Just a quick word. I the early days, what they called a "detector" or radio frequency detector, was just a (relatively) high frequency low current diode. For amplitude modulation, if you perform half wave rectification of an RF signal, you are left with high frequency DC waves with AM modulation. Those high frequency components of the DC signal would be rolled off by the primitive circuits of the day, and thus leave just the DC AM modulation. Thus even a point contact diode could receive AM broadcast on a strong signal, especially if listened to with headphones. Thus they called them "detectors", really just a rectifier in today's language.
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  2. Another note: one of the drivers of the first transistorized computers was the realization that flip flops build with transistors could be built that were far more tolerant of variations in transistor manufactured parameters than analog applications such as radios. When attempting to make transistors with stable parameters for consumer applications, the method used was to mass manufacture them, test their parameters, and live with a high rejection rate. As a result, the computer makers were able to come in and buy up lots of "defective" transistors for use in computers that couldn't be used for consumer electronics.
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