Re: "even a 7404 chip is a black box"
"even a 7404 chip is a black box"
It's a black box, yes. But unless it knows where it fits in the bigger picture, the stream of 0s and 1s it sees is utterly useless. It has no concept of where it might find "data" or "memory".
There are limits to what you can do with a reasonable quantity of 74xx-class logic. Have a look at, and a read about, (say) DEC's VT05 terminal to see what can be done with a load of SSI/MSI chips in a quite sizeable box.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
