<P> The advent of low - cost computers on integrated circuits has transformed modern society . General - purpose microprocessors in personal computers are used for computation, text editing, multimedia display, and communication over the Internet . Many more microprocessors are part of embedded systems, providing digital control over myriad objects from appliances to automobiles to cellular phones and industrial process control . </P> <P> The first use of the term "microprocessor" is attributed to Viatron Computer Systems describing the custom integrated circuit used in their System 21 small computer system announced in 1968 . </P> <P> By the late 1960s, designers were striving to integrate the central processing unit (CPU) functions of a computer onto a handful of MOS LSI chips, called microprocessor unit (MPU) chipsets . Building on an earlier Busicom design from 1969, Intel introduced the first commercial microprocessor, the 4 - bit Intel 4004, in 1971, followed by its 8 - bit microprocessor 8008 in 1972 . In 1969, Lee Boysel, b 8 - bit arithmetic logic units (3800 / 3804) he designed earlier at Fairchild, created the Four - Phase Systems Inc . AL - 1, an 8 - bit CPU slice that was expandable to 32 - bits . In 1970, Steve Geller and Ray Holt of Garrett AiResearch designed the MP944 chipset to implement the F - 14A Central Air Data Computer on six metal-gate chips fabricated by AMI . </P> <P> During the 1960s, computer processors were constructed out of small - and medium - scale ICs, each containing from tens of transistors to a few hundred . These were placed and soldered onto printed circuit boards, and often multiple boards were interconnected in a chassis . A large number of discrete logic gates uses more electrical power--- and therefore produces more heat--- than a more integrated design with fewer ICs . The distance that signals have to travel between ICs on the boards limits a computer's operating system speed . </P>

Who introduced the first micro processor in 1971