An ode to the diode
Beginning from the vacuum diode
The long forgotten tetrode and pentode
Small devices which drove large loads
To them I dedicate this ode
They took shape as a mechanical switch
Driven by an electromagnetic relay
However, they operated with a glitch
And also with a terrible delay
They made the first computer as big as a room
A very slow machine, nevertheless smug
The end was heralded quite soon
Between the contacts when they found a bug
A new era the vacuum tubes did usher
A result of brilliant innovation
They were promising and seemed to assure
For the existing problems a solution
Tubes required heating which dissipated power
That was a waste and a problem at hand
The remedy was silicon, as light as a flower
Available in abundance in grains of sand
Silicon replaced tubes and were called solid state
Designed to amplify, attenuate, flop and flip
They grew at a tremendously rapid rate
Millions integrated onto a single chip
The inventors had perhaps never dreamt
Of the uses silicon now does find
Whenever technology makes an advent
Electronics can never be left far behind
Any complex mathematical calculation
Is brought down to a simple logic
This is called the binary operation
But the switching has got to be pretty quick
Technology is but a means to an end
It all simmers down to a zero and one
Life needs to be lived, my friend
Packed with much laughter and fun
Bindu Vidyadhar
11th March,2010
poem by Bindu Vidyadhar
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