The new device is a cross between today's transistors and the vacuum tubes of yesteryear. It's small and easily manufactured, but also fast and radiation-proof. Meyyappan, who co-developed the "nano vacuum tube," says it is created by etching a tiny cavity in phosphorous-doped silicon.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/05/return-of-the-vacuum-tube.html
They claim switching up to 0.46 terahertz.
Graynomad:
Why bother?
Because there's nothing like a single-ended triode to add some warmth to your flip-flop?
Yes I've always preferred the sound of valve flip flops to those new digital ones.
Rob
I still like the mechanical calculator my grandpa found at a tag sale...
this one, or maybe a slightly different model
Can you fix a frozen computer with WD-40? No? I thought not.
Great stuff. My tag line for this sort of thing (referring to the use of computers in 4x4 vehicles in the outback) is
"Can you fix the computer with a sapling and some fencing wire?"
Rob
Graynomad:
"Can you fix the computer with a sapling and some fencing wire?"
I suppose that depends upon what's wrong with it.
As for retro computing, if piles of money showed up, I'd acquire a Curta calculator.