Since that time, solid-state devices have all but completely taken over. They played a leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s. Vacuum tubes (Thermionic valves) were among the earliest electronic components, They were almost solely responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the twentieth century, They allowed for vastly more complicated systems and gave us radio, television, phonographs, radar, long-distance telephony and much more. See also: History of electronic engineering and Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering Today, electronic devices are universally used in Computers, telecommunications and signal processing employing Integrated circuits with sometimes millions of transistors on a single chip. This played a key role in the emergence of microelectronics and the Digital Revolution. The MOSFET ( MOS transistor) was subsequently invented in 1959, and was the first compact transistor that could be miniaturised and mass-produced. The vacuum tube was no longer the only means of controlling electron flow. The next big technological step took several decades to appear, when Solid-state electronics emerged with the first working semiconductor transistor which was invented by William Shockley, Walter Houser Brattain and John Bardeen in 1947. And by the early 1920s, commercial radio broadcasting and communications were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long distance telephony and the music recording industry. Practical applications started with the invention of the diode by Ambrose Fleming and the triode by Lee De Forest in the early 1900s, which made the detection of small electrical voltages such as radio signals from an radio antenna possible with a non-mechanical device. The identification of the electron in 1897, along with the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification and rectification, which distinguishes it from classical electrical engineering, which only uses passive effects such as resistance, capacitance and inductance to control electric current flow.Įlectronics has hugely influenced the development of modern society. The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Get one on your wrist ASAP.Modern surface-mount electronic components on a printed circuit board, with a large integrated circuit at the top. These are our picks for the best digital watches for men to buy right now. And at the end of the day, they just get the job done reliably, every single time (pun intended). And the best digital watches also tend to be more affordable than a classic timepiece, another bonus if you’re looking to build out your collection. You’ll also find the streamlined design especially useful if you engage in sporty pursuits because digital watches can often take quite the beating. They’re easy to use, they’re smartly designed and they serve their purpose admirably, telling time and getting you where you need to go without any hassle. So why add a digital watch to your collection? Sometimes, simple and functional style is the way to go, and digital watches provide that in spades. The watch industry is filled with timepieces to suit every style and need, be it a new smartwatch, a crisply designed automatic watch or a more rugged, action-ready field watch. There’s something we can appreciate about a well-curated watch collection, including one with at least one of the best digital watches on the market.