Crafting with the Integrated Circuit: How Material Culture Shaped Hobbyist Innovation.

Abstract

This article investigates how the development of the integrated circuit (IC) and the solderless breadboard reshaped the practices of electronics hobbyists during the 1960s and 1970s. As the IC became a black box that obscured its internal workings, hobbyists turned to periodicals and hands-on tools like the breadboard to navigate this shift. The breadboard fostered a "sketch-like" approach to electronic design, emphasizing creativity and iterative learning. By tracing these transformations, the article argues that this period fundamentally shaped contemporary understandings of innovation by highlighting the dynamic interplay between hands-on skill and emerging technologies.