Intel 4004: The chip that launched the microprocessor era

Intel's 4004, released in 1971, was the first commercially available microprocessor, packing 2,300 transistors on a 4-bit chip running at 740 kHz. It originated from a calculator contract with Busicom, where engineer Ted Hoff proposed a programmable general-purpose processor. This architecture separated hardware from task, enabling firmware-defined behavior that underpins modern embedded and IoT devices.