“Missed the Micro–chip” Missed the Mark

In “How Bell Labs Missed the Microchip” [December 2006], Michael Riordan suggests that microchips and Jack Morton played a role in the breakup of AT&T. We strongly disagree. In fact, the breakup of the company had its origins in the 1940s, when the first efforts to spin off parts of Western Electric began. These efforts to dismember the company culminated long after Morton’s death. The main reason why the company was split up had nothing to do with technology. It was legal, and it’s well documented: the U.S. Department of Justice sued AT&T over AT&T’s anticompetitive practices with respect to MCI.

Even the idea that Bell Labs “missed the microchip” is incorrect. AT&T was preeminent in producing and using bipolar chips and inter­connections during most of the 1960s. Only after Morton’s death in 1971 did commercial MOS [metal-oxide semi­conductor] microchip devices become important. All through the 1970s, Bell Labs had a great deal of expertise and production capability in custom MOS microchips, which it used internally.

As an aside, we were fortunate to have worked under Jack Morton at Bell Labs. He was a brilliant manager and mentor with incredible vision, charisma, and strong leadership qualities.

Eugene I. Gordon, Mountainside, N.J.

Martin P. Lepselter, Summit, N.J.

Alfred U. MacRae, Berkeley Heights, N.J.

The writers are all retired directors of Bell Laboratories and IEEE Fellows.

Author Michael Riordan responds: AT&T’s disintegration did not occur by legal fiat in 1984 but stretched out for another two decades, culminating in the recent purchases of the telecommunication giant’s remains by SBC, Alcatel, and LSI Logic. While I agree that the primary reasons for this demise were legal—and managerial—thppere was an important technological component, too. AT&T came late to microchips and thus had no special advantages in using them for telephone switching. Jack Morton was a truly extraordinary manager who deserves credit for pioneering transistor development, but he must also share the blame for Bell Labs’ missing the microchip.

Farewell, CRT?

Here is what I garnered from the article “Goodbye, CRT” [November], combined with my own knowledge:

1. CRT TV displays are the highest quality display: “...the CRT, still the benchmark of all displays.”

2. CRTs last longer than any other type of display (our 27-inch JVC is 18 years old and runs great).

3. CRTs have a wider viewing angle than any other display (plasmas are on the way out, I agree).

4. CRTs have higher imaging bandwidth, which is important for rapidly changing scenes in, for example, televised sports.

5. CRTs cost about half as much as short-lived LCDs and one-fourth as much as complex LCD/LED models.

6. CRTs have greater reliability than any other type of display.

7. CRTs are more easily viewable in daylight than ­models of any other technology.

Admittedly, CRTs use more energy than LCDs and maybe even LCD/LED models. In most parts of the country, this is not objectionable; the extra heat is not wasted. They are acceptable even in Phoenix, where I live, which is the hottest large city in the United States. As to weight, once they’re lugged into the house, there seems to be no problem.

Summary: Your opening statement was “The next television you buy won’t contain a CRT.” Wrong. My next TV will be a 16-by-9 formatted 30‑inch CRT.

Rudy Dankwort

Phoenix

Looking for Life

Regarding the Drake equation [“The New Search for E.T.,” November], I’d like to suggest an experiment that might improve the estimate of the fraction of intelligent life in our galaxy that is able and willing to communicate from one star system to another.

First, we have to take into account the difficulties in communicating that might arise from enormous differences between us and a civilization that may be far more advanced than ours. So consider chimpanzees: we are separated from the ­chimpanzees by 5 million years of ­evolution; for all we know, we may be separated from some extra­terrestrials by 5 billion years.

So my experiment is to select a group of wild chimpanzees and teach them some knowledge or technique, to their benefit, that they can pass on to their descendants. The ease or difficulty of this task would give an indication of how hard it would be for an extraterrestrial civilization to communicate with us.

Michael Roden

IEEE Member

Flagtown, N.J.