Tubes or transistors: A realistic assessment

The popular notion that transistors will undoubtedly replace vacuum tubes in the near future has been widely publicized partly because of the natural enthusiasm and optimism of the many new firms starting into the business of designing and manufacturing semiconductor devices. There is, of course, no doubt that transistors will take over some of the application areas previously served by tubes, and that there will be some areas where either tubes or transistors will serve equally well, but there are many fields where tubes are and will continue to be superior. The advantages and disadvantages of each device, under the wide variety of operating conditions and circuit requirements, should govern the choice for a particular application, and the following discussion is intended to bring out those which are pertinent to such an analysis.